March 6th 2016. Grab your things!

Some of my closest friends just moved. And not like across town, but a number of towns away. My town feels different to me now. We didn’t see each other every day, or even every week, but I didn’t realize just how comforting it was to know how close they were, until they weren’t.

A song I closely associate with them is Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel, a song I’d heard before but really only listened to for the first time when it was performed by my friend Paul at a work event years ago. Gabriel said “It’s about being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get… It’s about letting go.” Thinking of my friends and listening to the lyrics today, I recognize and appreciate the “boom boom boom” in their hearts to make their dreams a reality by moving spaces. Finding space to breathe, to create, to relax, to rejuvenate, to honour their connection to nature, to healing, and to Spirit. I have grown to love this song so much, and today I share it in their honour. ♥ Love you, Nancy & Paul. ♥

As a Sunday extra, another friend shared this article on Facebook today, which references Peter Gabriel’s thoughts on music itself as essential stock in our “emotional toolboxes”. And that’s pretty much why I write this blog, isn’t it? Opening my emotional toolbox and hoping to make some contributions to yours. I’ll be digging into mine when I find myself missing my friends, for sure. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~

Listen here: Solsbury Hill * by Peter Gabriel * from his eponymous album (1977)

NB: This particular performance is from The Late Show with David Letterman in 2011. Word to the wise: best enjoyed with headphones, please!

March 5th 2016. Fun with “Friends”!

It’s time for something lighthearted, isn’t it? It is, so I’m starting Silly Saturday. My posts have been a little intense, even though they’re mostly Muppet-filled. Today’s song is a tribute to friends! Last night some great friends took me out for a birthday dinner and it was just delightful! So today I offer this song to my friends, your friends, and my favourite tv “friends” known as Chandler, Joey, Monica, Phoebe, Rachel, and Ross. The catchy theme song to the show was co-written in the early 90s by The Rembrandts and the show’s creators. It was completed and released as a pop single in 1995, much to the band’s chagrin. Below is a real YouTube find: all the intros to all the seasons, 1994-2004. If you make it all the way through and still enjoy the music after the tenth season, I’ll buy you a coffee at Central Perk! But for a nutbar fan like me, this is gold. So to all my friends, but especially the great ones I saw yesterday: “I’ll be there for you (cause you’re there for me too)”. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~

Listen here: I’ll Be There For You * by David Crane, Marta Kauffman, Michael Skloff, Phil Sōlem, Danny Wilde, and Allee Willis * 94-04

 

March 4th 2016. Muppet memory lane! (Part 2)

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“We must believe in magic. We must believe in the guiding hand. If you believe in magic, you’ll have the universe at your command.” This beautiful song was featured on Crystal Gayle’s episode of The Muppet Show, Episode 402 in 1979. As a very young child, I fell in love with this scene. Crystal appears as a regal goddess surrounded by spirits, singing these magical lyrics with her stunning voice. But as an older child, it terrified me. As an adult I can look back now and remember that I was born open and connected to the spirit world and the universal energy, and that as I aged it was far too easy to become disconnected (and scared). As an adult I have been reconnecting, and as I find my way back, I am loving this captivating scene all over again. I hope you love it, too. I feel like we are all just lost ships trying to find our way home…and a little guidance from The Universe goes a long way (even if the form it takes is Muppet ghosts!). “Nothing can turn it around.”  And so it is. ♥ With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~

Listen here: We Must Believe In Magic * by Robert Lee McDill & Allen Reynolds * from the album of the same name (1977)

March 3rd 2016. Muppet memory lane! (Part 1)

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“Everything seems to sing everywhere I go…” Without a doubt, the king of musical influences in my childhood was Jim Henson. As the creator of the Muppets, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock, Jim Henson celebrated music in every episode of every show. The wide variety of styles and performers infiltrated my ears at an early age. My appreciation for the magic of the Muppet world is ongoing even at this age (just ask my husband, who has to sleep in a bedroom with a Kermit doll on the shelf). The character who most resembled Jim Henson in look and spirit was Cantus, the leader of the Fraggle Minstrels, and this character was only ever performed by him. Cantus, incidentally, is the Latin word for song. Please enjoy this delicately lovely take on the enchanting spell music can have over us all. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~

Listen here: Let Me Be Your Song * by Phil Balsom & Dennis Lee * from Fraggle Rock: The Minstrels (1983)

 

March 2nd 2016. It’s my birthday!

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“Years go by, will I choke on my tears ’til finally there is nothing left…” Well…no. Not anymore. I cry. I cry a lot. I feel so much and so deeply. But I will not choke on my tears anymore. I am learning how to hold space for my own feelings. I am allowing my tears to release, to relieve, to renew. As a Piscean INFJ empath, a teacher, wife, friend, and family member, I have held space for a lot of other people’s tears for a long time. As my birthday gift to myself this year, I am owning my emotionality, and saying goodbye to guilt. And so it is. ♥

Today (and yes, it really is my birthday) I share with you Silent All These Years by the unrelentingly prolific Tori Amos. “I’ve got something to say you know but nothing comes”. I love her pause before nothing. “I’ve been here… silent all these years”. Me too. Listen to that chilling five-second long here. And if it moves you, maybe cry a little, guilt-free, and just feel. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~

Listen here: Silent All These Years * by Tori Amos * from the album Little Earthquakes (1991)

 

March 1st 2016. This is happening!

“I dreamed a dream in time gone by…” of having a blog! And here it is. Today is a practice day and tomorrow I’ll have my first real post for you. I will be posting musings of a musical nature; videos, stories, and songs that connect me to the universe and those whom I love. I hope by reading this you, too, will become more connected to the songs and stories that have shaped you and connected you to the bigger picture. I genuinely look forward to your comments and shares! With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~