It is no secret that I love music. I listen to all kinds of music; reggae, r&b, soul, funk, rock, country, classical...anything that speaks to me. I listen to this music and I allow it to move my spirit, but I am learning to follow the music in my heart. The saying, "dancing to the beat of a different drummer" refers to listening to the beat in one's heart. There is music inside of us, all of us. Our music may not may not always manifest itself audibly in the external world...but it is our song nonetheless.
If you have ever really listened to an instrument being played, you begin to hear it tell it's own story. When I was a child, my mom used to sit with my brother and me by the radio and we would listen to Peter and the Wolf, a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story (with both music and text by Prokofiev), spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra. Each character was represented by an instrument;french horn, oboe, flute, drums, etc. Since then, I have always heard instruments tell a story.
It wasn't until well into adulthood did I realize that the one two beat in my heart was telling me my story. Up until this point, I had been dancing to the beat of other people's drummers. I spent far too much time trying to be who I needed to be in order to fit in. I tried to keep up with the latest fashions, learn the latest dances and songs, and even take advice on how to look "sexy." I made important the same things others made important such as making lots of money and having the finest things. But it never felt quite right. I always seemed to be "offbeat,'" just a little.
I wasn't listening to my own internal rhythm, and therefore my song had no melody. Just like there are many different genres of music, and different interpretations within those genres, there are many different ways of life and interpretations of those ways. Most of us put far too much effort into trying to be like everyone else, to be socially "acceptable." If we are all doing the same things the same way, life loses it's flavor. As a person who wore a uniform for thirteen years in Catholic school, I'm attracted to uniqueness. There is a saying, "The less we look with our eyes, the more we will see with our hearts." Our hearts are like the instruments in Peter and the Wolf. Each heart has it's own unique sound creating beautiful music and telling each person's story in this grand symphony of life. Listen to your music. Love and light.
If you have ever really listened to an instrument being played, you begin to hear it tell it's own story. When I was a child, my mom used to sit with my brother and me by the radio and we would listen to Peter and the Wolf, a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story (with both music and text by Prokofiev), spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra. Each character was represented by an instrument;french horn, oboe, flute, drums, etc. Since then, I have always heard instruments tell a story.
It wasn't until well into adulthood did I realize that the one two beat in my heart was telling me my story. Up until this point, I had been dancing to the beat of other people's drummers. I spent far too much time trying to be who I needed to be in order to fit in. I tried to keep up with the latest fashions, learn the latest dances and songs, and even take advice on how to look "sexy." I made important the same things others made important such as making lots of money and having the finest things. But it never felt quite right. I always seemed to be "offbeat,'" just a little.
I wasn't listening to my own internal rhythm, and therefore my song had no melody. Just like there are many different genres of music, and different interpretations within those genres, there are many different ways of life and interpretations of those ways. Most of us put far too much effort into trying to be like everyone else, to be socially "acceptable." If we are all doing the same things the same way, life loses it's flavor. As a person who wore a uniform for thirteen years in Catholic school, I'm attracted to uniqueness. There is a saying, "The less we look with our eyes, the more we will see with our hearts." Our hearts are like the instruments in Peter and the Wolf. Each heart has it's own unique sound creating beautiful music and telling each person's story in this grand symphony of life. Listen to your music. Love and light.
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