"So I dig, deep in the belly of my soul"

Throughout the last few months, I have had an interest in learning more about Reiki and experiencing it firsthand. I've been practicing some of my own meditation and self care rituals, but I wanted to add a Reiki experience to my list of practices. So, today I went to my first Reiki session and it was better than I imagined. 

My Reiki master was very thorough. I was there for just slightly over two hours for the actually Reiki session and an intuitive reading afterwards that dug deep into my many layers and how to move forward. Best of all, she recorded the reading so I can hear her explanations again to remember things. She is also emailing me a report. I'm not going to go into all of the details of my reading, but I will share some of the highlights.

Who Am I?

If you have been following my blog, you may recall one of my latest blog posts that dug into the question of "Who Am I?" a little bit. It turns out that I need to do just that. According to my Reiki master, she said that right now I'm so full of what others expect me to be or what others think I am. But I need to dig down deep within myself to figure out what makes me ME. If you would have seen the look on my face!!! 

Another thing worth mentioning was that I'm supposed to be doing something BIGGER. What that is, I do not know. She asked me if I had any idea what it would be if I wasn't teaching. I told her about my passion for music and that I recently started a blog. She said that what I'm doing could be a stepping stone for something big to come. My energy field was just so huge and bright that it was "too big for my body and for what I'm doing in my life." 

She unveiled some of my fears that she got from the reading. I had mentioned to her that I am so full of anxiety sometimes that I don't even know where it is coming from. She found that I have a fear of not having enough time to do everything that I want and need to do. I also have a fear of failure. Both are true. I'm always rushing around, talking a mile a minute, as if there isn't enough time for everything. And yes, I'm always extremely hesitant of breaking out of my comfort zone for fear of failure.

The final thing from the reading that I want to share is that from my solar plexus down, she could not get any reading. There were no vibrations. I then shared with her that when I meditate, I visualize so vividly and I can feel its effects. However, my legs end up feeling like lead! She said I need to start doing some yoga to begin opening up those other chakras.

So....now what?!

I need use everything that I have gained from this reiki experiences to my benefit. But where to start? Well, I definitely need to come up with a plan:

• Get into a good yoga routine.
• Dig down deep to know and understand who I really am
• Find some good throat and heart chakra meditations to open them up even more
• When I start to feel the onset of anxiety arising, I need to face it head on and pick it apart to figure out what the actual trigger is. 

Life's Music Connection:

Now Playing: 

Maggie Koerner - "Dig Down Deep"

Album: Dig Down Deep EP

Let me introduce you to a powerhouse of a woman vocalist, Miss Maggie Koerner. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her live in Pompono Beach, Florida, back in April 2017. I remember the moment she opened her mouth to sing, the world around me stood still. I got chills. The only thing that existed at that moment in time was her voice and her lyrics. 

Maggie Koerner
CrawDebauchery Food and Music Festival
Pompano Beach, Florida
April 2017

Me and Maggie Koerner
World Cafe Live
Philadelphia, PA
September 18, 2019

Her music has really helped me through a lot since then. To be quite honest, I listen to her a lot at school after I put the children on their buses just to release any anxieties of the day. Certain artists speak to me. It's like they know what is going on in my head and their music is my antidote for any stress that I'm feeling.

So, the simple answer to many of my questions has been there all along. It was right in front of my face the entire time. It has been playing through my car, phone, and home speakers multiple days of the week. And yet I never REALLY listened to what Maggie was saying: 

"What do you say once in the light of day
What do you find once give in to time
So I did, so I dig, down in the belly of my soul
Dig down deep, deep deep deep
Deep in the belly where I lay"
-Maggie Koerner, "Dig Down Deep"

My Reiki master told me today that the reason I'm so exhausted is because I'm constantly trying to consciously figure things out within myself. That is what is draining all of the energy out of me. This whole time I thought I was exhausted from trying to block out negativity. The truth is, I need to stop trying to CONSCIOUSLY figure things out because it is deeper than that. Instead it needs to be done on a subconscious level. How? Maybe meditation. She even suggested using some singing bowls since I respond so well to music and sound.

I'm very glad I tried out Reiki today. The funny thing is, now that I am more aware of myself, my chakras, and my energy field, I have even more questions about myself. 

But, isn't that what always happens? Life can be such a puzzle sometimes. But I'll continue to piece together what makes me ME.

"Every day can be a better day, despite the challenge"

Today started of fantastic! I sent some tweets out on my Twitter account to help get my blogging out. I also posted on my Facebook page, asking my followers what their go-to songs are that get them up and going in the morning. Some shared some fun songs that I listened to and pumped me up even more. I needed it for our last day of virtual school before Thanksgiving break!

Yesterday I reached out to the parents and asked them to share with me their child's and their own go-to songs to lift up their moods and make them happy. I plan on adding these songs to my Classroom Playlist that I keep on my Amazon Music account. I stream the songs for the students as they arrive in our Google Meet and wait for others to join. I was happy to see that one parent shared with me a song that their child loves. There is no foul language in the song, which is great. But there are a couple lyrics that may deem  "inappropriate."

I played the song when the child arrived in the Google Meet and his face lit up! I tried to end the song early enough before any lyrics that may be questionable. All of the students were bobbing their heads along to the music...it was adorable! I told the class that their one classmate (we will refer to him as "R") requested the song. So many of them said that they knew the song and loved it! I reminded them to have their parents send me a song that makes them happy so we can start off the day happy and upbeat. Mindset is everything when starting the day. If we are in the wrong mindset first thing in the morning, it will end up being a struggle for the rest of the day for ALL of us.

"R's" Requested Song: Post Malone & Swae Lee - "Sunflower (Spider-man - Into the Spider-verse)"

After enjoying "R's" song, I told them that I wanted to introduce them to a song that always makes me feel good. This song reminds me of summer and warms me up!

New Classroom Playlist Track: 

Surfaces - "Sunday Best"
Album: Surfaces - "Where The Light Is"

🎵"Every day can be a better day, despite the challenge
All you gotta do is leave it better than you found it

It's gonna get difficult to stand, but hold your balance

I just say whatever 'cause there is no way around it"🎵

-Songwriters Forrest Frank and Colin Padalecki 

I told them to REALLY listen to the lyrics. I would like for all of you reading this to do the same. It has an incredible message. Surfaces' music always has a positive message. They never sing about anything negative. They use their music and their voices to lift you up. Their words are a good reminder to all of us to emit positivity and love with everything we do. No matter what life throws at us, we will get through it. We will all have our struggles, but it is part of life.

I connected this with everything that is going on in education during this pandemic. We are in school live, then we are virtual. Then some of us are back live on certain days of the week. Then we are all virtual again and we are trying to figure out our schedules. I'm trying to figure out how to meet with all of my students and meet all of their needs, but at the same time, not overwhelm them with too much screen time and work. I'm also trying to make sure I'm not overwhelming the parents.

The one thing that we all need to remember: Balance

Balance is important in everyone's lives right now. It's easy to forget to balance all aspects of your your life. Blogging has actually given me a better sense of balance. Before I started blogging, I would be doing school work until 9:00 at night. My life was completely unbalanced. It was all work. Sure, I'm a teacher. That's my job. But that is not ALL of me. That is not the ONLY thing that makes me who I am.

Who Am I?

Again, I am a teacher...but that is only one part of me. This picture shows how I ended my virtual learning today. But this is NOT all of me. I will not be sitting in front of my laptops all Thanksgiving break doing school work. It would be very easy to do. But being a teacher is not the only thing that makes me ME.

"Who am I?" This is a very important question to ask yourself in order to "rebalance" yourself. You are NOT just one thing. So many things make you "YOU." You should really take the time to think about it. Think deeply...down to the core of who you are. Only YOU have the ability to figure it out. Feel free to comment to this blog or on one of my social media pages where I share this blog post and tell us all about your journey in finding out who you are.

What I plan to do for the rest of the afternoon before heading to my parent's for Thanksgiving break is meditate and try to answer that question myself. I also think I'll stream the rest of that Surfaces album as well to keep this good mood and positive energy going.

Stay positive friends! Lots of love your way...

"Singing about the good things and the sun that lights the day"

Ever notice how being around a body of water can feel so healing?

I spent this beautiful day walking the Ocean City Boardwalk with my mother. It felt so good being out with the sun beating down on our faces and breathing in the salt air. It's amazing what being near the ocean does for your soul.

Today's Track: Led Zeppelin - "The Ocean"

"Singing about the good things
and the sun that lights the day" 

- Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)

I know the temperatures will soon be dropping as winter approaches. I mean, here in South Jersey, we already had some mornings that were only in the 20s! So, since today was going to be so gorgeous, I had to take advantage of it and  spend as much time as I could on my day off outside.

Walking the boardwalk and staring out into the ocean, it really got me thinking about all of the songs out there with water in the lyrics. There are a ton of songs out there about water! Some of my favorite include, but not limited to (in no particular order):

• Led Zeppelin - "The Rain Song"
• Led Zeppelin - "When The Levee Breaks"
• Led Zeppelin - "Fool In the Rain"
• Pearl Jam - "Oceans"
• Billie Eilish - "Ocean Eyes"
• Prince - "Purple Rain"
• The Talking Heads - "Once In a Lifetime"
• Incubus - "Aqueous Transmission"
• Simon & Garfunkel - "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
• Deep Purple - "Smoke on the Water"
• The Band - "Up On Cripple Creek"
• Ottis Redding - "(Sittin' On) "The Dock of the Bay"
• The Beatles - "Octopus's Garden"
• Toad the Wet Sprocket - "Walk on the Ocean"
• TLC - "Waterfalls"

Why write songs about water?

What draws a musician/song writer to write lyrics around the topic of water? This is what I have been pondering this afternoon. So of course when I got home I had to look up some things on the internet.

I found a great article shared by USA Today with a Q&A with marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols about his book, "Blue Mind." The book goes into how being around water brings people into a state of happiness and peacefulness. I just may have to check this book out someday after reading this article!

So, does even thinking about water and envisioning water bring us a sense of calmness and peace? Does it have those same affects on the songwriters when they are thinking of water as they write? Or...are they writing songs involving water to bring a sense of happiness and peace to us, the listeners? Maybe I'm just overthinking this whole thing and it's just easy for them to write a song involving water because it just flows (insert comedic drum sound effect here).

What is your take on it? The reason is obviously different from artist to artist and from song to song. But I'd love to dive into this some more. (insert  another comedic drum sound effect here). And I would love to hear your thoughts on this as well. What are some of your favorite songs about water? Please comment with your favorites!

"Where's that confounded bridge?"

So now as I'm going back and rereading everything that I wrote, I noticed a trend in almost every song I listed above: they conjure up big emotions in me. I believe that is why some of those listed are my favorite songs of all time. Maybe that is the bridge that connects each of us to the song: songs about water can stir up emotions if written properly and with the right melody to back it.

So will listening to songs with water lyrics have similar effects on our souls and mentality as actually being by a body of water since it invokes so much emotion?

Something definitely to ponder over...

After School Unwind Session: The Deep Tracks

Have you ever started a hobby or anything to do in your spare time and enjoy it so much that it makes you wonder, "Why did I wait so long to try this out?" That is exactly how I'm feeling with blogging. I always enjoyed writing, but I usually wrote a lot of poetry. Then of course when I slowly stopped writing, I had the old, overused excuse "I'm too busy...life is getting in the way." But I had a couple friends within the last few months mention to me and say "Mel, you should be blogging or vlogging!" I thought, yea, sure...someday maybe I'll give it a try. But only recently did I finally decide to dive in head first. Mentally, I don't think I was quite ready to begin my blogging journey months ago. I believe I had to wait until something hit me hard enough to make me passionate about writing. And obviously now, I'm ready.

Now Spinning: Muddy Waters - I'm Ready

🎵 "I'm ready, ready as anybody can be

Now I'm ready for you, I hope you're ready for me."🎵 

- Muddy Waters

Man, do I love listening to the blues. It puts me in a special kind of mood. I can't even begin to try to think of the word to describe this mood. Creative? Deep? When I listen to Muddy, I FEEL it. It's in my chest, then goes through my veins. I have to close my eyes and either sway or rock forward and back to the beat. This might sound insane, but I would LOVE to have a scan of my brain and body to see what happens when different types of music is played and compare them to each other as well as when no music is being played for me. I'm sure chemicals are being released from the brain...I would just love to know more about the physical affects of music on the body. So, if there are any doctors or music therapists out there who would be interested in this case study...I'm your girl!

Passion

Ok, so as I'm listening and writing, I'm thinking about having passions and how they drive us. I believe you need to be passionate about something in order to do it right. I'm noticing every day after work I have the desire to blog. It's never forced and I will never try to force it. But, does that mean that as long as we are passionate about something, we will always succeed? Well, I'm not so sure...

As you already know from reading my blogs, I'm extremely passionate about music. One of the things that I've always wanted to do was learn to play an instrument. Preferably guitar and piano. And yet here I am, 39 years old, and I haven't learned either. So why is that? If I'm so passionate, why haven't I learned yet?

To me, there is much more involved than just passion. You need the drive, the dedication, and the discipline. I can easily say that I'm passionate to learn music and I have the drive to learn it. However, I never dedicated any time faithfully to learn it or disciplined myself enough to stay on a routine to teach myself.

Did you see what I did just there?

I actually dug down deep and got real with myself. I mean, why lie to myself? It won't get me anywhere. I did a little self-evaluation to figure out what my problem is. So maybe that is the first step that we all need to take with not just figuring out why we never picked up a hobby that sparked interest within us, but with EVERYTHING that we do.

WHY?!

Three letters. One syllable. For such a small word, it truly is huge! Since wondering why I  haven't learned to play an instrument yet, I'm now asking myself more questions, diving in even deeper...

• Why do I love music so much?
• Why do I even want to learn?
• Why am I not dedicating time to learn?

Wow. That got pretty deep pretty fast. You see what blues music does to me?!

So now that we dug a little bit into our passions together, did I spark anything in you? Are you asking yourself some questions about your own passions? This "Unwind Session" was just the tip of the iceberg for me. So the important thing for all of us now is to do SOMETHING with everything we gained from looking deeply within ourselves. For me, who knows what that "something" will look like. Maybe I should look into actual guitar lessons from someone since I do not have the self-discipline to do it on my own. All I know is that if you don't attempt to explore your passions, you will never know what you are missing out on.