The Joyous Things In Your Own Soul

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On cool September Toronto night, around 11:00pm, I walked out of the shop for the last time. After two months of being treated disrespectfully by a few key people in charge, my mind was made up to quit…no notice and certainly no great need to justify this move to anyone. Though the rush of having made this decision brought elation, there was also a foreboding sense of dread that I would never find a way to really enjoy what I do and take care of my bills at the same time. A few days later with no money in the bank and next month’s rent due, I grabbed my guitar and headed for the subway to go take care of a friend’s mother for the weekend. After a hearty meal, I told her the story of what had happened at the shop. We had a few laughs at the ridiculousness of how seriously people take themselves. Later that night I sang a few songs and after she went to bed, new lyrics and melody took shape out of my desire to conquer my worries.

Over the weeks and months that followed, I felt the urge to sing this song over and over. It filled me with strength and hope that my path is ever opening up and that my heart will always lead me in the right direction. Meditation brought peace, and this song kept reminding me that it was ok not to want what everybody else wants. During this time a wonderful workplace appeared in my life along with a bright and beautiful new friend. Opportunities opened themselves all around. The pain of a two-month experience had blossomed into a song with rich and enduring life lessons.

This song still empowers me in hard moments and reminds me that we are free to carve out our own definition of life. “Ancient Secrets of Success” has taught me that success is measured by “your level of understanding of who you are.” Whenever pain and anxiety comes, it’s usually a sign that I’ve slipped into someone else’s vision of life.

Here’s the song:

When the world has got you down

and there's sadness all around
and they’re telling you that you’re too slow
and make you think you’ll never know what they know
But what do they know anyway…

Everybody wants to teach
about the stars they want to reach
But there’s something burning in your heart
that sets your life apart
from where others go

Who will you follow
to shine in your light
When are you going to get it right?
And when that moment finally comes along
Will it find you singing your own song?
Oh will you fly with angel wings
to embrace the joyous things in your own soul?
Who will you follow
Who will you follow with all your heart?

People are scared to become real
So they mask just what they feel
And the moment that you might catch on
is the moment they rely upon to hold you down
Keep you from coming ‘round to the truth
that you know
The truth that threatens status quo.

Who will you follow
To shine in your light?
When are you going to get it right?
And when that moment finally comes along
Will it find you singing your own song?
Oh will you fly with angel wings
to embrace the joyous things in your own soul?
Who will you follow
Who will you follow with all your heart?

Enjoy “Earth Hour”. Peace.

Ganga

PhotoArt: “Your Own Soul”
Lyrics: “Your Own Soul”

See My Reflection

A river reaches from one shore to the other ever flowing to its final destination. This observation once inspired a song, which came to me while sitting at the banks of the Miramichi River in New Brunswick last year. Reluctant to leave friends I was visiting, my heart knew it was time to move on with life and let go of insecurity and fear which temporarily blocked any desire to stretch beyond my comfort zone. Hugging the guitar on my lap, my fingers strummed a steady rhythm as my heart began to open.

The roaring river made a powerful splashing sound as its cold waters flowed past the dock. As the smooth wooden planks rocked up and down it felt like a boat moving to a mysterious destination. After trying to put feelings into words a few times, the lyrics slowly emerged and lifted me out of my heaviness and for hours, my heart sang and soared in the freedom of being alive. All worries disappeared and I felt the Unity of the river and the ocean. The more times I sang the song, the more I would feel that my life too is always joined in the Oneness of everything. Sometimes the wind would whistle so loud on the rocks above that I would imagine the Universe was singing with me. In rare moments, I felt it sing through me reassuring my heart that the magic of my life still had many wonderful things to show me.

When I sing this song now, it takes me to the banks of the Miramichi River and I feel grateful to have been blessed by the peace it gave me. I close my eyes and remember that my life ever flows wholeheartedly back to where it came from and the adventure of the journey, the wisdom of its triumphs and the relationships forged are the true limitless riches that make the entire odyssey meaningful.

These are some of the lyrics:

“I go down to the riverside
See my reflection in that watery tide
until there’s nowhere left to hide
from myself

Feeling lost in that water’s play
My life is moving in much the same way
What is there to hold on to today
Before it moves on?

(Chorus)
I sing glory to the River
That leads me to the One
I sing glory to the River
That leads me Home.

What is there to hold on to?
Everything is taken in that flow
Oh let me ride on the crest of a wave
Until I know

My wealth is here in this watery tide
I feel the Ocean call from deep inside
Feeling the Truth my heart can now decide
to move on

(Chorus)
I sing glory to the River
That leads me to the One
I sing glory to the River
That leads me Home.”

****May you find a freedom song in your heart today,
Ganga

PhotoArt: “Water Reflection”Lyrics: “Miramichi River Song”

To Love with Abandon

When I think of how much I love You, my eyes begin to water and my heart swells like it will burst. My knees become weak and my emotions soar skyward. These feelings guide me as if through a doorway of all possibility. I think of the sun and then think of love. It shines on everything the same. How can we love one more than another? If we love, then we love. But it is the Truth of You I love. Your words swirl through my imagination like a storm that shakes every sleeping part of my Universe back to life. You soak me with a Truth that shakes the very foundation of anything I have ever known or will know. You repeatedly disclose the discoveries of the ancients even though they slip through the holes in my understanding again and again. I crawl thirstily back and listen to the stories of my home in the stars.

Your impact on everything I AM resonates in every aspect of my existence. Peering into the eyes of those around me, I see the light and radiance of love for You. I see them seeing You and me seeing You in them. That’s when the glimpses of our unity rises. Softly, like a fragrant wind, the feeling is alive and tangible. There is a deep Peace within everything and everyone. The heart soars with its wings wide open and freedom reveals itself like an open door. The wave rises and amplifies itself into limitless currents, which transform into sound and light. Innovation arises out of this devotion to the Truth and You appear in every syllable of my words, every echo of melody and music.

Today my life soars into the more courageous Vision knowing with full assurance that all self-doubt and failure have no purpose and no foundation in the substance of this limitless Universe. Your love shows me the doorway of Light and I give myself full permission to enter the sanctity of the Real with total abandon.


“There is no grief that can hold me
There is no sadness that can stay
Your songs of comfort ever guide me
Your words of courage light the way
You fill my cup with riches,
Your joy is infinite and true
Oh Father I would be a heap of ashes
Were it not for You… “

Picture: Photo-Art “ Love’s Doorway”

Lyrics: "To Feel the Peace Again"

Let your heart be light today.

Ganga