“Harmony sinks deep into the recesses of the soul and takes its strongest hold there, bringing grace also to the body & mind as well. Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, and life to everything. It is the essence of order…”
Plato (429-347)
Music therapy is not an old idea. Music, like your sense of smell, can bring up memories and help you associate emotions with something concrete. It also offers understanding into life experiences. I have used music now more than ever to help me cope with my illness. They call it music therapy. I call it a gift of understanding.
One day when I was feeling so alone. I had just come to understand that at one point in my life I had two paths. Being a right path chooser by nature, I visualized I went left. I seem to have ignored my intuition – never do that by the way.
That path led me to become a person I didn’t recognize one day. I literally looked in the mirror and was disgusted with the person looking back. Do I regret it? No because that path led me to my amazing husband, beautiful children and questioning life’s true purpose. Maybe in my 20’s I wasn’t ready for the life originally meant for me. Maybe I wasn’t ready to understand God in the way I do now. Maybe I was too weak to bear the weight that life sometimes puts on my shoulders. Maybe I needed time to truly absorb life and appreciate it. All I know is now I have taken that path and it has led me back around to an option to choose the other path and I have.
Sara Barellis, an amazing writer and singer, wrote this beautiful song. Another woman pulled these words from somewhere in her soul and gave them to the world. Knowing that another woman at some point in her life felt this way gave me peace that day. A soul sister. We are all connected.
“She Used To Be Mine”
It’s not simple to say
That most days I don’t recognize me
That these shoes and this apron
That place and it’s patrons
Have taken more than I gave them
It’s not easy to know
I’m not anything like I used to be
Although it’s true
I was never attention’s sweet center
I still remember that girl
She’s imperfect but she tries
She is good but she lies
She is hard on herself
She is broken and won’t ask for help
She is messy but she’s kind
She is lonely most of the time
She is all of this mixed up
And baked in a beautiful pie
She is gone but she used to be mine
It’s not what I asked for
Sometimes life just slips in through a back door
And carves out a person
And makes you believe it’s all true
And now I’ve got you
And you’re not what I asked for
If I’m honest I know I would give it all back
For a chance to start over
And rewrite an ending or two
For the girl that I knew
Who’ll be reckless just enough
Who’ll get hurt but
Who learns how to toughen up when she’s bruised
And gets used by a man who can’t love
And then she’ll get stuck and be scared
Of the life that’s inside her
Growing stronger each day
‘Til it finally reminds her
To fight just a little
To bring back the fire in her eyes
That’s been gone but it used to be mine
Used to be mine
She is messy but she’s kind
She is lonely most of the time
She is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie
She is gone but she used to be mine
Writer(s): Sara Bareilles
Copyright: Sony/ATV Tunes LLC, Tiny Bear Music
