THE CALLING

Songs are powerful, they can reassure, soothe, inspire and educate. One of the reasons for this is because they are performed by real people, with failings and all. Songs have always held a mirror to the world, reflecting the things going on around us, good or bad, music changes society like no other art form.

Resistance against injustice is exercising true love.

In some cultures songs were passed down through the generations to keep alive three peoples historical journey. Today with all the technological advances has made the world a smaller space. Even before this records were platforms for musical revolution. Artists have always forged emotional connections with listeners in ways that others found impossible. Songs could shape listeners in new ways, challenging people’s preconceived ideas of the world, shining a light on things that weren’t spoken of in the news of the day. The impact of Billy Holidays version of Abel Meeropol’s “Strange Fruit” challenged society. The song instills feelings of disgust and deep sadness. Those affected by the song went on to march in support of Martin Luther King Jr, and their grandchildren did the same for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Using your influence to make a difference.

Influence is a term that is now being widely circulated everywhere around us. Being influential, getting influenced, and restraining from influence are some of the most important aspects which would direct the course of your life. Having an influence can boost your status. It is frightening to think but most of our decisions are directly and indirectly related to the urge to fueling status.

“I know the streets are calling but you have to rise above it”. From the film Roxanne Roxanne.

We are faced by a myriad of unrelenting challenges that are threatening life as we know it. Climate change, religious extremism, poverty, greed, pollution, terrorism, war crimes, hate speech, intolerance, racism and gender bias. Our fight began centuries ago and it does not end anywhere. The intensity of these problems have grown and previous generations continually pass the baton.

You can be more than you see.

Musicians have always been influencers, whether or not we are aware of it and whether or not we intend to be. The sound and messages we release through our art form directly impacts our listeners in powerful ways. I believe that those who really love and care about music are the ones who grew up listening to songs that touched them and spoke to them in a profound ways.

Time Machine

Music evokes responses from all of our human senses. It stimulates our Brain in a unique way. We listen to music in stereo which triggers a subconcious memory as if time stamping that moment in time. One that you can actually relive again and again, like on the day you first listened to the song. Not only a sound byte, but it evokes an emotion, a memory, a visual picture, a smell, a temperature or a mood. Music works like a ‘Time Machine’.

What a gift music provides, allowing us to experience moments in time of sadness and joy. Music can inspire each of us in so many different ways. They can be deeply personal or ones that shared by the masses. There are songs that make tears well up and fall from our eyes, songs that make us smile ear-to- ear, songs that make us reflect and feel sentimental or intimate, songs that evoke memories of joy and even the cathartic beauty in sadness or make us get hype.

Music is so very powerful, reaching all of our senses while being so very accessible.

Basil Reynolds

Coaching Consultant

Finding the Music Inside