Music…and a few good thoughts for the day

Can music heal? Hell YES.

Music is a vital life force for countless people, including Yours Truly. Music heals the deepest wounds in my life, whether I am making it or sharing it. Additionally, just listening to music can deliver good thoughts for the day, no matter what is happening around me. I would be lost without it. Meaningful lyrics paired with the right sounds sets me on a direct path to joy in a matter of seconds.

And in addition to sharing a bit of original music with you, I am going to share my own good thoughts for the day with you right now. I want to spread the happiness that I feel when I am paying attention to the joyful things in my life, when I am actively living in a state of gratitude.

Yes, pure, simple gratitude. It is one of the easiest gifts that we can give ourselves and to those we love. We hear this cliche over and over, and say it all the time: Count your blessings. But how many of us actually do count our blessings regularly? Why do we even need to be reminded if it’s so powerful?

Why does gratitude elude us?

It is actually VERY easy to take life, health, wealth, opportunity, and relationships for granted. You don’t have to look far to encounter obstacles to your happiness. Simply reading or watching the news exposes us all to enough low-vibrational, life-sucking misery to crush out any good thoughts for the day before we even get started. It is like poison to the heart and soul, and affects us deeply when we take it in. Even music has trouble reaching us when we go too far down that rabbit hole!

Unhappy people can also have a profound impact on our degree of happiness. If you are surrounded by negative people and sour messages, what chance do you have to maintain your own good thoughts for the day? I guess that’s the million dollar question. HOW do we find joy while living a world of sadness? It is a dilemma that Buddhists have been addressing for centuries. But what does music have to teach us?

Music and gratitude

Now that I have introduced the idea that music can truly boost your good thoughts for the day, I am going to share a song I wrote – and a story – that helped connect the dots for me on both of those things. It is true that sometimes the most important life lessons arrive in spiny, painful little packages.

On the day the song Nettles was born, I had just picked up my brand-new Martin guitar, the guitar of my dreams, and couldn’t wait to play it. However, earlier that morning I had been spontaneously weeding my garden beds without wearing gloves, and ran into a fresh patch of nettles. Have you ever grabbed a handful of stinging nettles? They are aptly named. Tiny chards of thorny fibers lock underneath the skin and sting continuously for days until they work their way out. My fingers felt like they were on fire, screaming.

In this condition I played music on my new guitar nonstop for hours, despite the burning pain. During this time I composed the song that Brett affectionately coined “Nettles.” It lived as an instrumental for about a year. I penned the lyrics later …as the meaning of the song fully emerged.

Your good thoughts for the day: Gratitude is a CHOICE

The song Nettles contains my good thoughts for the day – music and meaningful lyrics to lift you up. Nettles suggests that gratitude is not something that just happens – is a conscious choice. We either choose gratitude, or we do not…because it’s more about what we pay attention to.

Every life is filled with pain. Everyone experiences sorrow and disappointment. What do you focus on, pain or happiness? Will you hold onto feelings of bitterness, deprivation and despair, or will you embrace love, gratitude and joy? Will you sit in silent misery or turn up the music that heals?

What we choose to focus on is what we ultimately get, and therein lies the good thoughts for the day that I wish to impart. It’s very simple, something the Buddhists got right. Pay careful attention to your thoughts, because they speak volumes about where you are directing your energy, and therefore your life. That is the gift of mindfulness.

Nothing can keep me down for long when I choose to connect to everything – and everyone – that are blessings in my life. For me, Nettles is a deeply spiritual song. I will share this music now – my good thoughts for the day – with you, my friends, to show how very grateful I am for YOU.

I would love to read your comments, revelations and aha-moments on our website or Facebook page!

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Keep calm and Brumbylon.

Thanks for hanging out with me – have a great week!

~ Lisa

“The seed that grows toward the light begins in darkness.”