Dance, My Soul

      Silence is a phenomenon that does not truly exist.  When we are alone, quiet, at rest, we can feel that void as a heavy cloud weighing and pressing down on us.  But the reality is that we are never alone and the earth is never silent.  When the chaos of the day turns into a cool night, and the chatter of the humans we share this planet with subsides, that is when the earth is able to reach out and beckon our ears to the place where the music truly lingers.  The song of the wind calls us to hearken as the leaves and branches of the trees it blows invite us to come sit and listen for a while.  In the starlight the cicadas and crickets charm us into a dance of sacred steps that can only be known to the dancer who reaches deep within to remember the soul movement that was understood exclusively by those who once resided among awareness.  There is an emotional untethering, a mental and even physical release that gushes from deep in our hearts when we close our eyes and recall that ancient music that lives within us all.  It is a song of primordial consciousness, a freedom that exists only when we forget our mortal bodies and weave a tale too complex to be spoken with language.  It is a legend too powerful to be seen with human eyes and too essential to be understood by physical senses.  The song that we feel inside of our hearts, the dance that we release from the bottom of our souls, is a force that can't be written, spoken, or rationalized.  There is a reason that music makes a party, that love is expressed lyrically, worship is sung into the heavens, that we meditate and journey to the rhythm of the drum.  Ideas much too deep and important to be told plainly are crooned and strummed into earthly existence, flowing from our inner worlds of spiritual depths.  Emotions are expressed in a way that only song can convey and only dance can appease.  Music is a therapy, an urge, a desperate longing, a sacred calling, a means of transformation for the hybrid divine.  The oldest instrument known to man is the flute.  Made from bird bones and mammoth ivory, the flute was played at night while tribes sang and danced round a fire of heat and passion.  Alone, or surrounded by like-hearted kindred, let the music connect you with the earth and all that is in realms that cannot be seen.  The drum is the intoxicating heartbeat and our voices rise to mingle with the neural pathways of the heavens.  As we let our limbs twist and wind through the celestial ether, blood pounding in time with natures pulse, our feet drumming the earth and sending shoots of roots into the under-realms of space, we can clearly see why we smile.  Our hearts quicken and our ears prick up to the sound of a tune we can grasp onto and our faces smile when we realize that the song in you is the song in me, because it is the joy of the earth and the secrets of God.
What is your soul dancing to?

"Dance Of The Moonlight..." painted by bohomaz13

Music by Sarah Howle & Wyatt Garey

"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."

- Victor Hugo

Through The Rain

       I awaken from a deep slumber to the steady rhythm of soft rain pattering across the grass outside of my window.  My muscles beg to be stretched as a yawn escapes my lips and my blurry eyes try to focus on the clock.  The minute hand rests at five 'till, and I roll to turn off my alarm before the dreaded buzzing sound assaults my ears.  My feet shuffle through the carpet towards the bathroom where I splash warm water on my eyes before climbing into the sink to sit and paint my face for the day.  A chill creeps across my arms and down my back and I shiver momentarily as my body adjusts to the morning air.  I fight the urge to crawl back under the warm blankets, knowing that my son will be up soon to get ready for school and the baby will be crying for his "Mah" before long.  After the chaotic morning routine subsides, I enter the kitchen and stand at the window watching the rain fill the yard puddles and the cats run from bush to bush in a desperate attempt to keep their gray and white fur dry.  I am suddenly aware that I am alone, and for once everything seems to be still.  There is no sound aside from the rain, and the only movement is the ripples that undulate away from each water droplet.  I momentarily feel sad, peaceful, thankful, still, quiet, and content.  What is the purpose of the rain?  Of course rainwater is essential for all of life, providing the majority of the fresh water on earth which is needed to sustain many types of ecosystems.  But what is the purpose of the rain?  As I drive away from my home I notice the absolute stillness on the roads around me on the way to work; the drone of the windshield wipers and the splash of the tires making my mind sleepy.  Perhaps the rain falls to help us be still.  Life gets to be such a whirlwind of activity and due dates that we sometimes forget to stand motionless and allow nature to be the moving force around us.  We only notice the little things, the birds bathing and the squirrels chattering, when we aren't occupied with our own selves.  Or perhaps, the rain falls to wash away the dregs that built up while the wind was blowing dirt and the animals were tracking their prey.  Cleansing the earth and cleansing the soul is healthy and much needed.  Sometimes we have to strip down and step out of our dingy skin to see the world anew and feel the refreshing breath of life renewed.  Maybe the rain falls for no other reason than to help us all appreciate the sunshine a little more.   Or maybe the rain is nothing more than music sent from the heavens for the special few who have the ears to hear it and the feet to dance in its glory.

Insomnia Driven

       I was never the type of person to just be quiet.  When I awoke in the morning I would turn on music to jam to while I got ready for the day, rushed the kids out the door to school while we chatted, and then listened to morning shows in the car on the way to work.  Work was a busy blur, then radio to pick up kids, and nothing but chatter and noise until bed time...where my exhausted brain would refuse to sleep.  As soon as my head would hit the pillow my brain would suddenly be flooded with foods that I like, songs I haven't heard in a decade, and things I felt bad about doing fifteen years ago.  At first I tried sleep meds, diffusing sleepy time essential oils, and eventually a glass of wine and four hours later I would drift off on a cloud of uneasy sleep.  You know what I recently learned?  BE QUIET.  Turn the music off while you're putting mascara on in the morning and listen to what your brain is telling you.  Drive to work in silence and watch how you suddenly notice that there are other people in the cars that pass you by.  Listen closely to the thoughts that pull at your earlobes while you're trying to rest at night, because that's where your soul is taking you.  Pay attention to the guilt feelings and allow yourself to feel them.  Maybe your heart still feels bad because you need to apologize to someone.  THAT'S OK!  It's ok to hit someone up that you haven't seen in twelve years and apologize for dating their ex-boyfriend that one time in junior high.  They may cuss you out all over again, or they may be like, "Wow, thanks for that."  Either way, you're going to sleep better.  Maybe your dread feelings are because you were hurt and you're the one who needs an apology.  THAT'S OK!  Call your mom and tell her that you've been struggling with something that she said to you last month.  She could bend over backwards apologizing because she loves you and doesn't want you to hurt, or she may defend herself and give you nothing.  In that case you need to be prepared to forgive her anyways.  Either way, you will sleep better.  Sometimes we keep reliving things because we haven't quite processed them, and sometimes we bury them for so long that we forget its there while we're awake.  I have found that if there is any emotion or thought that nags and pulls at me while I'm quiet, its because it needs my attention.  Like a child it needs to be heard, looked at, and then spoken to.  
What do you hear when its quiet?