I see me - Music as reflective healing

Alright, so I'm not claiming that I'm reinventing the wheel here, or that I've created these ideas from scratch. If I've gleaned anything from making contact with the surface of the blogging waters, it's that I'm basically putting my spin on mostly known ideals. Now that we've got that out of the way, allow me to go off as if I've given birth to the idea of using music as an emotional toolkit. I hope you've had that magical music moment. You know, that one where the singer is belting about their experience and it feels like they're talking directly to you? For me, it was when Childish Gambino said in his criminally underknown gospel backpack rap banger, Outside; "Workin' two jobs so I could get into that white school, and I hate it there, they all make fun of my clothes and wanna touch my hair" My lord, gasp I let out when I first head that lyric... This was 2011, rap music, for my whole life had been (rightfully) steeped in American blackness. Rappers were surrounded by other rappers, but here, Childish Gambino, spoke on his experience being surrounded by white people, and his song ratified and shone a light on the unkillable desire for non-black people to ask black people Can I touch your hair? (A slim winner, closely chased by how do you wash it and does it get wet?)

I felt like a part of history. I felt seen. I felt better. Here was a black man with dark skin who shared an experience with me. I listed to all the rap titans of the late 90s and 2000s, I was young, I wasn't doing the debaucherous stuff they did, no matter how crisply and passionately I recited their lyrics. So finally, finally, I was represented in one of my favourite genres. I felt seen. I felt better.

Now imagine, instead of waiting literal decades for a reference to hit home, imagine, you're gonna love this, imagine, stay with me folks, imagine you write your own song. This could mean, that every single lyric, reference and chord progression can make you feel seen, and feel better.

I was upset recently. I spare you the gore, but I felt powerless and defeated. It sucked doubly because I was doing all the healing things, reflecting, exercising, eating healthy, drinking water, working hard, and still, couldn't shake the gloom. I did though, find some eventual peace in the sadness. How did I do that, you ask? Well I had some nice long conversations with some honest pals and I listened to some old songs of mine. I heard my own voice tell the listener: I'm not where I wanna be, but I'm not where I was, so I guess I'm kinda wrong, whatever I'll just, sing the song wee! A far cry from my most technically brilliant verbiage, and yet, equally effective. I listened to songs about old problems of mine and thought, oh my gosh, that was bad and I got through it, I'll probably get through this too!

I endeavour to have these tools reach the youth of our time. They need loads of help with alchemizing their emotions. When to act, when to feel, when to sob - the answers to these questions are different for each human, but music can guide your emotion to where you need to be. Music you have made, might even get you there more expeditiously.

If you want to be seen, don't wait 20 years for someone else to ratify your experience. Write the song, record it, release it or don't, but use it to remind yourself of your values and your value.

Best,

Powys