Folks typically ask, “What do you do?” We’ve all been there, whether or not it’s at a buddy’s banquet, a networking occasion or at an in-law vacation gathering, the place introductions turn into quiet acts of self-definition. They sometimes imply, “The way you earn a residing,” not who you might be, how you progress via the world, or what conjures up you from the within. How we reply it typically is dependent upon our consolation degree with the individual asking and our surroundings.
When folks go to our residence, they typically ask if I’m an artist. Shade, texture, layered partitions, objects that really feel extra ceremonial than ornamental—our house carries a sure frequency that exudes all issues inventive. With a piano within the nook, drums, crystal bowls and percussion devices scattered round, many assume my associate or I (or each) are musicians too.
I’m not an artist or musician by career. And but, each artwork and music convey me into states of inside peace, presence and connection that surpass different issues in my life—they’re proper up there with writing, which is in itself, an artwork. Writing has been a every day apply for so long as I can keep in mind, a quiet devotion to feeling into and translating what strikes via me. It’s all the time been very therapeutic.
That creation course of (artwork, writing, music) has all the time been a religious expertise for me, and in reality, it shapes my world. It’s from this lens that I see the world and am formed by it in profound ways in which aren’t all the time instantly apparent.
Nature connects me extra profoundly with Spirit, whereas music and artwork open portals past linear time. In these moments, I disappear. I lose a way of time itself. Whereas working within the pictures lab at my London school campus, I used to be in one other actuality till one thing snapped me out of my trance (maybe a necessity for a glass of water or a rest room break). All of a sudden, I’d discover the three am flashing on the clock.
Those that create commonly know this state properly—the sensation that you’re being performed as a lot as you might be taking part in, a bit like a violin. The sensation that you’re being written via as a lot as you might be writing. It’s as if the universe itself has borrowed your fingers, ears and eyes for a second.
Mystics and scientists alike have spoken about this higher-than-me state that takes over. The universe isn’t exterior us, observing from afar, however inside us, expressing itself via numerous types. As Ram Dass and Deepak Chopra have each stated in their very own methods, we’re not separate from the cosmos; we’re participatory expressions of it. In different phrases, the universe is in us as a lot as we’re in it (I’ve written about this earlier than). Thinker Henri Bergson as soon as urged that the universe is “a machine for making gods.” I’d take it a step additional.
We’re all gods and goddesses as co-creators, concurrently observing and shaping actuality, second by second. Once we make artwork, play music, write, or just pay attention deeply, we step again right into a profound rhythm that doesn’t make sense to our linear senses and conditioning.
As a author, artist, and musician, I typically see—really feel is probably extra correct—parallels to this state after I examine quantum physics and the newest analysis stemming from neuroscience.
Enter the imaginal realm. Some mystics, together with certainly one of my favorites, Cynthia Bourgeault, seek advice from this because the imaginal realm or an imaginal state of being, to not be confused with creativeness.
As Jean-Yves LeLoup writes, “Each physicists and mystics converse of the darkness on the core of sunshine. In fact, these are solely analogies, but their message is that within the bodily area, as within the religious, the important all the time eludes our minds. We solely come near it via silence and repose.” BTW, music and artwork additionally convey me right into a state of silence and repose.
Earlier than we had language, we had sound. I’ve typically heard the phrase OM is the sound of the universe, maybe the primary sound that emanated from the universe after the Massive Bang, or as I desire to say, the Massive Breath, as coined by cosmologist Dr. Jude Currivan. Earlier than phrases, we had a pulse, maybe a rhythm, such because the beating of a coronary heart, the hush of wind via timber, the low hum of existence itself. Lengthy earlier than spirituality was organized into doctrines or philosophies, it was felt—very like music is felt—vibrating via the physique, bypassing logic, talking on to one thing historic inside us.
In some ways, awakening unfolds like a bit of music. No less than, that is the way it feels for me.
Let’s transfer from sound to what I name noise, or extra precisely, “noise within the discipline.” Our exterior world is loud, filled with digital chatter starting from opinions and fear-based narratives on social media to tainted information, and maybe a digital identification we’ve created that doesn’t match how we actually really feel inside. We reside in a continuing state of data overload in an always-on world, very like a radio caught between stations retains hissing at us till we lastly stand up and switch it off.
Religious awakening typically begins not with readability, however with dissonance when one thing simply feels off and the outdated tales, buddies and conversations now not resonate.
Then, slowly, an inside voice says, “I’m not completely satisfied.”
Harmonization is essential in music, simply as it’s in spirituality. Once we are in tune with ourselves, we will attune to others, which merely means deep listening in order that we will join with their soul, not their exterior shell. Once we tune ourselves like an instrument, we turn into harmonized, which additionally means we’re extra conscious when one thing feels off inside ourselves, or as I typically say, out of alignment. We could not know if it’s our nervous system or a bodily situation at first, for every little thing is related. Once we are perpetually harassed, fearful, or disconnected, we’re taking part in out of tune with life itself.
It’s occasions like these that we will flip to meditation, breathwork, time in nature, or just sitting in silence, all of which act as tuning forks to convey us again into resonance. How does this occur? Resonance means eradicating the “noise within the discipline” or the static that’s obscuring our readability.
Because of this so many individuals describe awakening as remembering slightly than studying. Our melody was all the time there, and it occurs to be our Larger Self, or our Soul Self’s voice, one that’s typically subtle by the noise of a chaotic world.
There’s a second in music, as in artwork, when one thing is so aligned and totally stunning that you simply don’t analyze it, you merely really feel it. Within the non-canonical gospels just like the Gospel of Mary, Phillip and Thomas, teachers and theologians converse of Mary Magdalene’s innate understanding of Yeshua’s authentic teachings so deeply that there have been moments when no phrases have been wanted. Silence did the trick alone.
Common reality, whatever the religious lineage or philosophical custom, is resonance. When one thing resonates deeply, it’s not as a result of it’s novel, however as a result of it’s acquainted at a soul degree. You’ve all had that have not less than as soon as in your life, hopefully numerous occasions.
Resonance is the bridge between music and consciousness. When a frequency meets its match, a single observe can shatter glass, and a single perception can dissolve a lifetime of conditioning. Because of this sure teachings, books, or experiences awaken folks immediately, whereas others cross by unnoticed. It’s not about quantity however frequency.
You see, music isn’t nearly taking part in sounds; it’s additionally concerning the silence it creates inside us. A religious path additionally requires silence, or house between ideas, reactions and identities. It’s typically why you see religious masters reply slowly, taking in silence and coronary heart contemplation earlier than the voice speaks.
In different phrases, we emerge in these areas as observers, not simply contributors. Each should be in sync and concord for inside peace to embrace us. Opposite to what many individuals consider the phrase silence, there’s a fullness to it. The guides we work with always remind us that we’re every little thing and nothing, and that the Void is every little thing and nothing, all on the similar time.
Music has fascinating parallels. Sound is measured in frequency (hertz), and decrease frequencies are felt within the physique—bass, drums, heartbeat—whereas larger frequencies are perceived as melody and concord. For instance, after I play my crystal bowls for a bunch, they’ve a really totally different impact than after we collect for a drum circle across the hearth. One isn’t higher than the opposite, however they create totally different vibrations that affect the physique in several methods. Whereas we’ve by no means measured this scientifically, we’ve witnessed the results firsthand over time.
Early in life, we’re immersed in denser frequencies, resembling survival, concern, identification forming and conditioning from our mother and father and lecturers. Awakening doesn’t take away us from our bodily physique, however it permits us to develop our consciousness past the bodily physique, which, btw, can also be the vitality physique—they’re one and the identical despite the fact that our notion isn’t.
Once we develop our consciousness past the denser layers of our perceived bodily physique, we expertise the world in a different way, and the delicate is then added to the noise. In different phrases, subtler states are extra available to us, resembling instinct, coherence, compassion, and interconnectedness: the imaginal realm that Cynthia and different religious greats converse of.
This isn’t simply symbolic; it’s additionally neurological and physiological. Not all medical doctors and scientists will agree with this connection, however a rising quantity are recognizing the correlation. Lastly. Thanks, IONS and CHI, in your fantastic analysis that’s serving to to speed up this realization.
In science, resonance happens when one vibrating system influences one other to vibrate on the similar frequency. Because of this a tuning fork may cause one other tuning fork throughout the room to sound with out being touched, which is analogous to how our nervous system works.
Once we hear music that strikes us, our brainwaves synchronize with the rhythm and tempo, and in case you take discover subsequent time you’re listening to music, discover how your respiration modifications. We get that fantastic dopamine hit. Religious perception, or as I wish to say, innate understanding, works in a lot the identical manner. Once we expertise one thing releasing or true, it resonates. You’ll be able to really feel it in your chest, your intestine and even your breath. Because of this religious experiences convey tears and sudden readability even after they don’t make logical sense, a lot in order that we’re typically afraid to share them with others.
Resonance is how the physique acknowledges coherence.
Music and artwork have all the time executed this for me, way back to I can keep in mind. They dissolve the sense of a separate “me” and substitute it with immersion. In different phrases, it’s as in the event that they take over or possess me, taking me into different realms and dimensions, creating surreal realities that join me to All That Is. From that vantage level, it needs to be no shock that many religious thriller colleges begin off with the thought of identification and shedding our notion of it. We did the identical after we ran our two Blue Soul MASTERS programs a few years in the past, and we’ll be together with it with our new Blue Soul Alchemy Knowledge Faculty program that started within the Spring.
The World Surrenders to a Silent Thoughts
I reference this assertion typically. It was listed as certainly one of my “go-to” phrases on my outdated Down the Avenue weblog for years, and I even talked about it in my final Substack publish. Why? As a result of that phrase give up appears to have a profound affect on my nervous system. It’s a type of innate understandings past my ego-self.
Give up can also be a part of each religious path. After I’m at my finest on the piano, I’m now not taking a look at sheet music in entrance of me however surrendering to the sensation in my physique. I let my fingers dance throughout the keyboard, as if one thing past me is taking on.
In some unspecified time in the future in each inventive endeavor, there’s give up. Improvisation. Belief. Religious awakening asks the identical of us: to give up the thoughts and ego-self and really feel our manner ahead.
Life turns into much less about performing and extra about taking part. The guts begins to steer greater than the thoughts. Once we cease making an attempt to regulate the rhythm of existence, we start to maneuver with it. My male athlete buddies name it FLOW. In that state, we will attune extra and reply from the guts and deep listening slightly than merely reacting. Put one other manner, we start to permit life to play via us slightly than demanding it comply with a script. That is the place authenticity is born—the place our distinctive music emerges.
Maybe essentially the most profound parallel is that this: No single instrument carries the entire music. Awakening isn’t a person achievement that it’s good to ATTAIN—it’s relational. Simply as concord requires a number of notes, consciousness expands via connection. Every of us carries a frequency formed by our experiences, cultures, wounds, and knowledge. Once we pay attention to 1 one other—actually pay attention—we create one thing bigger than ourselves. Because of this range is humanity’s best energy, not a weak spot, as I mentioned in a latest publish.
In a fractured world, this issues, particularly now with the divisiveness we’re seeing, most just lately within the United States, which is nearer to residence for me. After I heard the Minneapolis protesters within the streets chant “You belong to us,” concerning the immigrants of their communities, I broke down crying. It wasn’t one thing I wanted to consider; it occurred instantaneously. Why? As a result of resonance was a felt sense in my physique, an inside common reality that each one humanity feels at their core after they let their coronary heart lead: We’re all one.
That is the collective symphony affecting our collective consciousness at its finest. All I may consider at that second was, “We have to hear extra of it, and I’m with you, Minneapolis. I’m with you. I’m with you.” When our hearts mix, every little thing modifications, as my drummer instructor buddy Barbara Borden advised me as soon as about an expertise she had in an auditorium. When everybody drummed collectively, they routinely harmonized with one another, which harmonized everybody’s nervous programs. I skilled this firsthand in certainly one of her drumming teams, albeit with a a lot smaller pattern.
Music and artwork remind us of this innate reality. In their very own distinctive methods, they transfer via the physique, dissolve boundaries, and quiet the thoughts. In these moments, we don’t really feel separate from others, however related and entire. Or maybe you might say, we’re residence. Lastly. Science has equations and a unique language that now show this connection. Lastly.
Spirituality isn’t separate from science, simply as music isn’t separate from physics. Music reminds us of what science now affirms: we’re vibrational beings in a resonant universe. Once we keep in mind tips on how to deeply pay attention, we attune or slightly, tune again into ourselves, our true essence. Then we start to listen to the readability that was all the time there, a reminder to look inside slightly than to maintain looking out on the market for the solutions. It is a message we frequently train, so it bears repeating repeatedly. And once more.
Renee Blodgett is the founding father of We Weblog the World. The location combines the magic of an internet tradition and journey journal with a world weblog community and has contributors from each continent on the earth. Having lived in 10 international locations and explored over 90, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural range. She can also be the founding father of the Magdalene Assortment, a jewellery line devoted to girls’s unsung voices and tales, and the award-winning writer of the bestselling guide Magdalene’s Journey
She is founding father of Blue Soul Media and co-founder of Blue Soul Earth in addition to the producer and host of the award-winning Blue Soul CHATS podcast, that bridges science, expertise and spirituality. Renee additionally based Magic Sauce Media, a brand new media companies consultancy centered on viral advertising and marketing, social media, branding, occasions and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped firms from 12 international locations get traction out there. Identified for her international and natural strategy to product and company launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an lively consumer of social media, she helps purchasers navigate digital waters from all over the world. Renee has been running a blog for over 16 years and commonly writes on her private weblog Down the Avenue, Huffington Put up, BlogHer, We Weblog the World and different websites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Journal and is listed as a brand new media influencer and recreation changer on numerous websites and books on the brand new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed because the sixth most influential girl in social media by Forbes Journal on a Prime 20 Checklist.
Her ardour for artwork, storytelling and pictures led to the launch of Magic Sauce Images, which is a visible extension of her writing, the results of which has led to producing six photograph books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee can also be the co-founder of Touring Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to different international locations to share and study from friends, governments, firms, and most people with a view to educate, share, consider, and promote revolutionary applied sciences.
