Music Therapy

A sad song, mournful dance, provoking artwork, or a thoughtfully sad movie
...these kinds of things...pull at my heart strings. And I allow it. It may hurt a bit, it's true, and I feel tender. But I also feel unstuck. I feel a little raw. And I feel the chance to be real. The space where my heart resides aches. And I feel the chance to grow. Sometimes the tears gather up strength and cover my eyes,welling, on the edge just waiting for permission to sneak out of their hiding places with the next blink. And when they do, their saltiness tells me I've allowed myself to feel, I've allowed a place of vulnerability and sadness to be with me, without trying to hide it, or fight it, or fix it. So different from what happens on a "normal" day in Anywhere, USA. We are taught early not to show or express our emotions.....as if they were a flaw, a weakness, even a sign of unstableness. Some of us were told that tears showed a lack of character when we expressed emotions. When I see tears I know that there is plenty of character, plenty of dignity, plenty of bravery, as one bears their soul and the little heart on their sleeve trembles in fear of being ripped off and broken.

Today I know that the reason I like to hear a song sad is because something in it rings true for me, dare I say all of us? Tenderness and heartache resonate deep within my being. When I've felt myself or others being tender with another's emotions or in the way they care for someone, or I witness another's expression of heartache, I witness purity of spirit. All the false strength, all the armoured costumey protection is softened and empathy, compassion, love, and awareness glimmer at me, telling me, yes, it's okay to walk towards this light.

A sad song gives your heart permission to break a little, without falling completely apart. That is the way we become open...in our little bits of breaking...I can't think of a better way to allow growth, then to let what needs to come out do so and to let your heart be broken open so that there is more light, more room for more love and so on.

After all growth spurts can cause some pain, but they bring us to a newer version of ourselves. Dare I call it elevated? No pun intended. Seriously, no pun intented...I haven't physically had an upward growth spurt since the 7th grade-lol

So, try a little music or art therapy...give yourself permission to feel what is within. You may find you want to lose yourself,you may even feel a little lost and certainly be aware of your own personal losses, but I promise you'll come back to your reality a little more unstuck and perhaps a bit more like the self you were always meant to be.