The healing power of music
...and my magical return to it.
Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk
She says I began to sing long before I could talk
- from “Thank You for the Music” by ABBA
The work we’re told to do
Like so many of us who were born into societies, or families, who told us to “grow up” and “get a job to pay the bills”…I did what I thought I was supposed to do, to be a good citizen, and a contributing member of society.
I learned tons of skills, mastered many work & industry domains, and have an impressive LinkedIn profile. I’m proud of each and every one of those accomplishments, for they helped me reach further than my grasp, and connected me to people and experiences I couldn’t have imagined.
Then, in the 2010s, instead of making every decision with my well-trained mind, I began to listen to what my heart and soul had been whispering to me for years. I explored the dusty trails of my inner world, unsure if this was the sensible thing to do, yet deeply convinced I had to do it.
What the pandemic told me
When the Covid-19 coronavirus entered our already-chaotic world in Dec 2019, it devastated families and destroyed livelihoods. My intention for this Substack, to share uplifting insights on life and leadership, lost much of its original meaning…for it had been designed for a world & work structure whose foundations were rattling.
As I listened and looked out for my next steps, I turned to music livestreamers for a sense of comfort and community. Music had always been my North Star, with sound waves that heal and elevate, and lyrics that inform and enlighten.
A few months into pandemic lockdowns, I began to entertain the idea of making music again. As the lyric goes in ABBA's "Thank You For The Music,"...I began to sing long before I could talk! I'd studied classical piano as a child, and won some singing contests as a teenager and young adult...but, other than a fleeting/naive thought (when I was 17 years old) to run away and audition for a Broadway musical, I'd never considered a career in music.
What I started to tell myself
Changing your sense of self, and/or changing your work identity, is challenging at any age. Trying to make that change at the height of a global pandemic, and with a resume that could still land me a job, took the level of difficulty from 10 to 50 (on a scale of 1 to 10 🙂).
But I had to honor the stirrings of my heart and soul. And if I’d somehow succumbed to this virus, I knew my biggest regret would be the music that I didn’t get to create and share.
As magic would have it, making music has also turned me into a better mentor. It opens me up to my natural gifts of empathy & intuition, and helps me guide others into their purpose-driven leadership like never before.
By choosing to honor my innate gifts, I can now, more deeply and resoundingly, help you choose to honor yours.
✨Let’s make musical magic together!✨