Home is Where the Heart Is
Music and Spirituality
Continuing the theme of personal development, I want to write a little bit about how music can touch your heart, touch your soul, and make you a better person. I believe that music is the foundation of spirituality, and that music can be found in almost any situation or any environment, such as when you listen to a humming bird flying by or the sound of water flowing down a creek. The wisest professor I had in college said that “You should always listen to nature.” What you might find surprising is that he didn’t teach philosophy, he taught Quality Control, you know, six sigma stuff. He was so in tune with his spirituality that I learned more from his class than any other class I’ve ever taken… and not just about quality control, but about life.
If you think about any religion, what is one thing that is always included in their services? Music. Now, there may be some obscure religions that I haven’t heard of that don’t incorporate music into their gatherings, but as far as I know, they all have some form of music and/or dance. I watched a documentary about how the big time pastors that call themselves “healers” use music, lights, and the flow of their sermons to put people into a tranced state of mind. They can then bring those people on stage and make them feel as if they are being healed, and they will actually feel better for a period of time… be it a day or two. The “healers” can sometimes induce whole sections of the audience into a tranced state and make them all do things that they feel they had no control over (similar to what hypnotists do).
The documentary also showed a study that was performed where scientists proved that there was a part of the brain that is stimulated by music and lights and that when delivered in a certain way and in the right environment, can have an overwhelming effect over the rest of your mind and how your body behaves. So how can we use this information to make ourselves smarter and better people? First, I believe that we can use this information to grow our “hearts and souls.”
When you think about your “heart and soul” what are you really referring to? (I will use the phrases “heart,” “soul,” and “spirituality,” interchangeably for the remainder of this post as I believe they are basically the same things.) When you end a relationship or your best friend moves away, how do you feel? Where does it hurt or where do you feel the loss? Do you feel it in your brain? Well, maybe you do, but people that have developed their spirituality feel the loss in their entire body and primarily in their chest or “heart.” What I want to share with you is that those feelings you feel in your chest or your “heart” and in your mind, are really the part of the brain that I mentioned earlier from the experiments.
I know it’s not fun to think about your spirituality as just being a part of the brain that is stimulated by sounds, lights, and your environment and then it releases chemicals which causes you to “feel” emotions, but that is what I’m suggesting. I am also suggesting that it’s not a bad thing that we are this way. I love getting in touch with that part of my brain. I love listening to music that speaks to my soul. I believe that the more I get in touch with that part of my brain, the better person I become. I am more friendly, more caring, more loving, a kinder person, more fun to be around, think about others more, and the list goes on. Do you know anybody that doesn’t listen to music at all? I would imagine that they are probably not very fun to be around or you may find them a bit “cold.”
Develop your spirituality and you will be a better person. Listen to music that touches your soul and has “feeling.” Truly just take a minute to stop and smell the roses. I wrote a small article about why I think many young people are scared of tying the knot, and I believe that people do not grow their spirituality for a lot of the same reasons they are scared of tying the knot. As my friend Mike says “we can all get caught up into the routine of life.” We are all working towards that next goal or achievement and do not take the time to listen to nature, or “smell the flowers,” or get in touch with our spirituality. I absolutely believe you should have goals in life and work towards achievements, but we also need to incorporate spirituality into our lives in order to be a complete person (as well as take care of our health, spend time with friends and family, continue to learn new things, and help people).
The best thing I have to offer to start your journey on building your spirituality is a beautiful and soul touching song that a new friend of mine sent me. I encourage you to look up the lyrics online as well, but if you listen to this song you should start to feel that part of your own spirituality that we all need to nurture and develop. Look for and listen to other music that touches your soul. This world will be a better place when everyone works on growing their spirituality. Enjoy…
Cinematic Orchestra - To Build a Home
BlogMarks
Furl
Newsvine
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Anessa...
how you not like to drink. Its cool unlike you...
Chris...
What would happen if McCain DOES become president!!!?? He does have an awful temper....
Great post Matt.