I couldn’t really play a guitar, but I owned one. I’d pick it up and mess around on it, discover some chords that sounded good together and practise them for a while. Once I’d practised the chord sequence enough times for it to sound like a whole piece, I’d be able to play it on automatic pilot. That’s when I found the melody and words coming through by themselves.

I’d practise and practise, until the song sounded coherent to me. I witnessed the chords, melody and words flowing in a rhythm. At that stage I could let go completely and ‘be’ the song.

With each song that formed, I went through a process similar to a birth. I would always end up crying because of the profundity of it. The process blew me out.

So song writing for me was really an introduction to my own Spirit. At least the two began to unfold at the same time.

I’ve learned a lot through music. One of the most important lessons is that music is a very powerful vehicle for whatever we want to communicate. You only have to listen to advertising jingles to realize how music can make something stick in your mind.
So much is being communicated through music and most of it is not life-enhancing. It’s a rare song that uplifts us beyond normal human consciousness.

Most of the music I listen to is instrumental. There’s a specific reason for that. If the truth were known, we are all so susceptible on an unconscious level to the words we hear. [remember the messages you heard as a child? They still play in your head unless you consciously change them] So add music to words and you have something that will go down deep into a person.

 My own personal commitment is to sing only words that are real and uplifting. I like to do that with my spoken words too, but I must admit I’m not totally there yet. However, I know I’m on my way.

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Wisdom tells me that the collective human consciousness has a negative default. I proved this to myself not only by my own experiences, but by observing others.

We can be having a pleasant day, trucking along nicely, when something happens that we don’t like. Where does the mind tend to focus after that? Forget about the pleasantries. This negative stuff is really important! And we like to let everyone know about it.

The default font in ‘Word’ on a computer is “Times New Roman”. Because it’s the default, if you want to change the font you have to actually do something.

It’s like that with negativity. There’s so much of it inside our own minds. In fact people are drowning in negativity without knowing it. It’s the default of the human mind in a state of unconsciousness. If we want to experience gratitude, love, compassion and all the other good feelings, we need to consciously put the effort in.

It’s not easy swimming upstream but it is possible.
Salmon do it every year.

This little fish sings.