On Repeat

You ever hear that perfect song that you to have hear over and over and over? No matter what other songs that follow, they just don’t measure up. Something about that certain melody. Their voice. Beat or bass. Harmony. Maybe you can’t figure it out, you just know that you want to hear it on repeat. Releasing something in you. Cleanses a part of your inner war, creating peace. Eases a storm within. It simply soothes you.

Zen is defined as emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition. To be calm and relaxed. Peaceful.

For those few moments when that particular song is playing, Zen is you. You fall into the universe. Eyes closed. Emotions settled. Mind focusing on every piece of this musical masterpiece. Perhaps the words have no meaning in those few seconds of peace. Or maybe the background music is cancelled out, the lyrics are all that matter. Either way, you are trapped. Nothing else matters around you. Within this miniscule part of your life, you receive a sign. A message. A flutter of hope from the future. A split-second answer to a question you’ve been searching for. A vision. A glimpse of what’s to come or a flashback of a lesson or love that you need reminding of.

Maybe nothing at all. Simply a blank slate for you to paint. To envision what you want for yourself or someone you love. You allow yourself to see it. To feel it. Harnessing your inner power to create what is to come to next. Enabling yourself to recreate who you are into who you want to become. That is the biggest blessing of all. Re-invention is such a Zen feeling. To allow music to push you forward is so freeing.

This song may force you to pause. To slow down and breathe. To awake a still moment. We are so busy. Always moving. On to the next thing. Music can have us frozen in a moment. Making us appreciate the moment we are supposed to be cherishing. The scenery, the air, reactivating the sensitivity of our senses. Returning the power to our intuitional technique. Allowing ourselves to guide us into the next part of our life cycle. Only we can create a better future for ourselves. So much self-help advice, when the actual answer is within us. Help yourself!

Letting yourself get caught up in music can be very liberating. This song may force you to feel hurt causing you to battle the pain within. Teaching you that you are supposed to feel. All these pills and the world telling you that you are supposed to be happy and smiling all the time, is a lie. We are supposed to have emotions. We are meant to feel and not just happiness. There is nothing wrong with sadness. I’ll repeat that, there is nothing wrong with sadness! How you overcome the sadness is what matters. If you get stuck in that pain, despair is inevitable. Feel the hurt. Allow it to change you. There is nothing wrong with change. I’ll repeat that again also, there is nothing wrong with change! Evolution is our history. People too often are too stubborn to allow themselves to move forward in life. We are not meant to be stagnant.

I remember there was this one song that I literally could not, not dance to. Every single time I heard the first seconds, my body would respond. Releasing all of my energy into the world around me through dance, was my absolute Zen. Truly euphoric. I know you have a song that awakens your inner dancer. You can’t stop yourself. Whether in the car, at home, a bar or restaurant, a friend’s house, it simply does not matter. It makes you move.

The music I feel, literally refreshes me. Cleansing me anew. Even now as I type to you, my eardrums vibrate with my newfound love. Assisting with my Zen. Keeping me on track with my thoughts. Organizing my words. Music is an amazing form of communication. Which songs remind you of a special someone. How many times have you dedicated a song to someone? You may not have professed this song to said person but you know. That secret crush, the love of your life, your bestie, a sibling or family member. And ewwwwww, the song you used to play over and over that was for your love of a time and the song you thumped to yell along to in your car after the split. The songs that reminded who you are without that person. Helped you heal and move on. I have a few of those…

My style and idea of Zen has transformed so many times throughout my lifetime. Each phase of me requires new things, including music. I never abandon my love for my, “Oh this is my song”s of the past. Hearing them to this day still brings me back to that exact moment. That time in my life. The people I loved and enjoyed. The fun I was enjoying or pain I was enduring. Giving thanks to my past. To the me, plural, of the past. Leaving her where she belongs and moving on to the next phase. Who she is, will never be forgotten. Always to be felt and remembered. The appreciation I have for the hers I descended from, is beyond measure.

Giving much thanks to my Zen-full songs I had on repeat that assisted in my growth. That hypnotized me into focusing on my next step. That jumpstarted my intuition, making me ignore the insecurities within me. Allowing me to have confidence in decisions I needed to make. Creating self-love. Guiding me through places unknown. Undiscovered. Showing me that stillness during chaos is the key to finding answers. Wading in mid-air. My subconscious speaks loudly, refusing to be ignored. Telling me or reminding me that peace will come. To manifest and focus on what I wanted next. What I needed next.

My “on repeats” zoned me out of the world and into mindfulness. Revealing the core of me. Coasting me ahead. Confronting my contradictions. Conforming to accountability. Forgiving wrongdoing. Slow breathes create weightlessness. Allowing my minds-eye to see. Allowing me to see what’s best for me. Giving me permission to do what is in my best interest unapologetically. To clear the path ahead. Casting away fragments of doubt. Recognizing how to love things anew. To love others again. Trusting is empowering. To accept people who they are. As they are. Learning it is not another’s responsibility to meet my expectations. And I am not required to meet theirs. Fantasizing and glorifying can be detrimental. Things and people are what they are. Acceptance is the answer.

Music that can put you in that venerable trace, is a form of Zen. My Zen has had many faces over the years. Each phase in my life, required a different style of music to put me in that trance-full mind frame. To center me and find that Zen.

My teens years were filled with Rap, Reggae, Hip-Hop, R&B, R&B souls, and a rock song here and there. The same genres followed into my twenties, along with anything that I could dance too. In my mid-twenties, I had my daughter and caught myself jamming out to anything on Nick Jr. Needless to say, toon music was not Zen-like by any means. Between her favorites and the classical I put on throughout the day and to soothe her at night, I lost my Zen in sacrifice to my daughters. I rediscovered my Zen closer to my thirties. Although I still love my given genres, I began to fall for Alternative, Drum and Bass, some Techno, and a few scattered Metal songs. Metal wasn’t foreign to me due to my upbringing. I also knew a lot of Rock n Roll and 80’s bands. Today as I near the 40 mark, I am tranced by Contemporary R&B. Along with my “on repeats” from the past!

As we develop, so does our taste in music. Never releasing the love of the past, we gain new loves. As we evolve, so does music. Therefore, our Zen may need some space to grow also. Life altering music casts us forward into the abyss of change. What are you hooked to? Why has this music caught your heart, creating that Zen within? How has it captured you? (Cheesy but affective!)

Have Fun, Stay Safe and Happy Reading!!!