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Listen to the music!

Marian Wood

Music shop

When I was a teenager, I would always meet my friends on the top floor of a music shop. It was small and very easy to find each other. Those precious days before downloading and streaming music.  Those days when you would buy your music and then share it on tapes with your friends.

Would any teen create a mixtape now? Would they know how?  I wonder if future generations will buy CDs.  I still do, but my children have never shown an interest. They are both happy with streaming on their phones.

So why am I telling you all this? Music drives so many of us.  All of us like some form of music. None of us would ever imagine we could be scared by it. Have you ever had a song repeating in your head? And then heard it everywhere you go?

This song haunted me for months before the night.  I can replay those times in the music shop, but nothing could have prepared me for this.  In life, I had never needed my friends as much as I did then.  So here is what happened: Have you ever been told to listen to your inner voice? Yes, you most definitely need to. I was ignoring mine, big mistake!

Our world

A friend told me years ago of a song that made him feel like he was flying.  This seemed crazy to me, but he had just experienced something that I should have been listening to.  As we go about our daily lives, we miss so much.  Often focused on our lives, our problems, our stresses and worries, but we keep on going.   How often do you listen to the wind? Actually stand and sense what is happening out there.  Have you ever walked through a wood and heard whistling in the trees or stopped as you thought you heard something, then dismissed it? Yes, me too!

The night is a lonely place. I should have listened to Sam and accepted a ride home, but I didn’t. I walked my usual route, listening to music on my headphones.

Walking under the bridge that I’ve walked under many times, my song started playing about being by the river. I smiled, seeing the silent water flowing next to me, reflecting the light of the moon.  This was when my whole perspective changed, something happened, and I don’t really understand how.

The field

It felt like I had walked into a long tunnel, with a large field at the end, and the river had vanished.  I could hear birds singing, and sheep standing quietly, I could even smell lavender, and the song was still playing. It was as if I had stepped into a different world.  Now pulling my coat around me, the wind had changed, and the night felt darker.  The music was now replaying; I now actually listened to the words.   “I go to the river, I go to the field, the man calls to me, and I’m finally healed.”  Does this mean something?  Music is key to our lives, but this field does not exist. Where is the bridge?

Feeling fear now, this was wrong. Sitting down, I felt sick. What was Earth trying to tell me?

Hearing my name, I could hear Sam.  Hear him, but I couldn’t see him.  I had a greater awareness now of the dark field, and the lavender smell was extreme.

Problems

I had been busy these last few months. Fixing other people’s problems but not looking at my own.  Things had been spiralling, and tonight I had ignored Sam when he told me to slow down, take a break from work, and look after myself. To stop worrying about other people’s problems and sort out my own.  He had advised acupuncture or massage, to just slow down.

Stretching out my legs now, I could feel the grass under me as I lay down.  Noticing now that the sky was purple.  This was wrong, and Sam’s voice was still talking to me somewhere.

This was a call, listen to your inner voice and slow down, listen to your friends. I had heard this song so many times about the field and healing but ignoring its significance.

A wake-up call

Hearing another voice now, I didn’t recognise it. The field was disappearing. I could hear a beeping noise and could feel a tug on my arm. Coming round, I looked up at the man looking at me, smiling.

This was a wake-up call. I found out later that Sam had followed me home, lucky he did, as I had fainted under the bridge and then stopped breathing.  He had dialled 999, and here we are.  The paramedic had brought me back, and the music had, for now, stopped.  Realising that the song had said about a man healing someone, this was me. I’m sure it had been a warning; I am now listening!

Listen!

I’ve learnt to listen, to stop, and focus on me.  I am too young to be fainting and seeing purple skies, and why Lavender and sheep?  I can’t explain the sheep, but I had learnt that Sam had started spraying Lavender scent in desperation to help revive me. The next step is to talk to my GP and take a break from work. I need to stop.  The world around us is significant. Listen to what it’s trying to tell you, and any songs that seem to be talking to you, mine definitely was.

We all love music, stop and listen to the words, and stop and really listen to the world and your environment.  Listen to your internal monologue and stop if you need to; nothing is more important than your own health.  Your loved ones need you so work out what really matters. Take each day one at a time and enjoy the company of those around you.  I’ve certainly had a frightening wake-up call!

Please visit Marian on her blog: https://justmuddlingthroughlife.co.uk/

Images are free use—Image by Joshua Olsen on Unsplash.