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Where do ideas and inspiration come from? Is it a place? Is it on purpose? Is it random or for a reason?
I have been having an unplanned trip down memory lane this week. Last weekend marked the second anniversary of my mom’s passing. This had me feeling heavy, slow, a little useless and tired. But I allowed it since I have learned we have to just let things be what they are sometimes in order to facilitate the greatest ease and flow.
Sunday night, at the end of a very long weekend, my dreams brought memories from my life before I started grade school. I had a ‘virtual’ visit to my first childhood home, and caught up with my first best friend who was my next door neighbor. We moved away from there when I was 5 years old so I was very young when I lived in that house. I have however driven past it many times, often wondering what it would be like to go inside. This dream did not allow that, but it was really wild to unearth a corner of my mind I would’ve previously considered hidden and unreachable. This caused me to dig deep, as I always do. I also may or may not have cyber stalked that family to see if there was some hidden message in this dream that I should be aware of. I came up pretty short which, if you know me well, is uncommon. Therefore, I let it go and just accepted it as a cool dream and went about my week.
For those of you who are cosmically inclined, we were in between eclipses last week. Tomorrow (Monday, December 14) presents a full solar eclipse in Sagittarius whereas earlier this month we had a lunar eclipse in Gemini. I don’t know much but I do know these two signs are opposite each other on the zodiac wheel. The other thing I know is that this eclipse energy can be very powerful and intense. I for one have been feeling all sorts of things these last two weeks as I have planets in both Gemini and Sagittarius. Pair these eclipses with a dead mother and holiday angst, and you have the makings of a full plate.
To further this trip down memory lane, last night I watched The Bee Gees documentary on HBO called, “How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?”. First, let me say I love The Bee Gees and if they cause you to feel less than positive feelings, you may not enjoy this post. The Bee Gees served as a back drop to the life I lived in that first house from my dream last weekend. Music was a great part of my childhood and it always made me feel good. Perhaps this is why I play music so much in my own home and why spirit talks to me through songs. Sure, my Dad was always a Beatles man first and foremost, but The Bee Gees were also in the rotation and the documentary brought me right back to this pre-school life. This was a time when I thought every song that came on the radio was “my favorite”, as clearly I had not grasped the meaning of the word favorite. I loved music and recall sitting with my Dad as he played music on the record player in our basement. Another disco era gem was Donna Summer’s “On the Radio: Greatest Hits”. I can remember sitting with my Dad looking at that album, opening it to the center spread of Donna sitting on a jukebox and she wore the most fabulous shoes. They were hot pink high heel slides which looked to be made of satin; shoes as glamorous as I had ever seen. I loved that album so much, although I still can’t figure out who left the cake out in the rain nor why that would make for a good song lyric but I will chalk that up to mysteries of my youth.
But let’s get back to The Bee Gees. If you haven’t watched this documentary, I highly recommend it. As a child in this era, I was not aware of the role The Bee Gees played in that time; including their intuitive ability to write music or their knack for being in the right place at the right time. I smiled all the way through this documentary with the exception of the tragic early deaths of 3 of the 4 Brothers Gibb (did you know that is where the name Bee Gee’s came from?!) and the unsettling and aggressive nature of Steve Dahl, the young and angry DJ from Chicago who tried to kill disco. I won’t ruin the story for you but this whole thing got me thinking about ideas and their origins.
In the documentary, many current musical stars are interviewed for their input and thoughts on the Brothers Gibb. One of the best things shared, which completely aligns with my way of thinking, is when Chris Martin, Coldplay’s front man says “Songwriters don’t really write songs, you receive songs.” YESSS! Yes, Chris Martin, yes. I already loved Chris Martin so hearing him say that made my whole weekend and reaffirmed him as #2 behind Bono in my poll of favorite musical men.
This got me all stirred up. Isn’t everything like that though - be it a song, a book, a poem, a blog post? Do we ever really create things from nothing? Is it all inspiration? Am I wrong and we think everything in to life from nothing? Can both of these concepts be true? I know I have read many things that affirm this concept. Paul McCartney had dreams about some of the Beatles biggest songs including “Let it Be” and “Yesterday.” Elizabeth Gilbert writes about this idea of ideas floating around waiting to be taken on by the artist who receives them in her book, “Big Magic.” She had once started researching a very specific story and main character and then due to life circumstances, the project got put on the backburner. She later met a fellow writer who was just beginning to research and write a story with similar character and storylines. Gilbert had not disclosed her story so it was most definitely not stolen, it was simply an idea that wanted to be born that realized it needed to move on to find its home. You do what you want with these things, I am 100% a believer.
So how did I get here? Oh yes, Chris Martin’s original point was that The Bee Gees received a lot of songs, and as often as they needed them. Even after the bands demise, Barry, the eldest Gibb, went on to write hit songs for so many other artists. I argue that Barry is highly intuitive and is therefore highly able to receive these inspirations and songs that float around him. For those of you are in to human design, Barry is a 3/5 emotional generator with a highly defined throat and a highly defined spleen. Translation = strong intuitive ability and a voice that is an adaptable tool that reached people very deeply.
Do the songs go where they know they will be born? Are ideas attracted to people who are more receptive? Or do we all have these things around us all the time and we either notice and act on them or we don’t? This is not at all unlike a Medium who receives messages from spirit. Is this all coordinated or is it random and totally by chance? Or is it some divine order orchestrated beyond what we can grasp as human beings?
You may be thinking, “Whoa, Christy, relax. These are songs, not the Emancipation Proclamation.” To which I say, sure, just songs. What other tool do you know of that connects people far and wide, regardless of language, time or place than music and songs? If you can come up with something, please let me know. Songs shift culture, they give you the chills, they make you cry, they pump up athletes and become themes for movements and generations. Songs are nothing if not inspired magic.
The last stop on my trip down memory lane happened this afternoon when my niece delivered some precious family treasures from her attic. She lives in my mom’s former house and therefore has access to all the stuff we didn’t clear out after Mom passed. She brought over ceramic Christmas knick knacks and decorations that my mom and her mother made. The feelings that come with these items are mixed - sad that they are both gone, joy to reconnect to Christmases of my youth, pleasure in knowing that these items were made with love and that this love can be passed from generation to generation. My Grandmother had a kiln in her basement and my mom, her sisters and other ladies would get together in the basement to drink coffee, smoke cigarettes, unleash their creativity and I am sure laugh and release some of the pressure of being a stay at home mother in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
What does my dream and my mother’s ceramic creations have to do with The Bee Gees? I am not sure if they are all related other than they all symbolize the same era and a time in my life that I had long buried. I will also add that I do not believe in coincidence so I 100% believe that my week started with a dream of my pre-school childhood life and ended with some of my greatest joys from that same era on purpose. This of course has me adding dreams to the list of inspired things we receive.
I will let Barry Gibb cement this for me.
“I am beginning to recognize the fact that nothing is true,” Barry Gibb says in the opening scenes of the documentary. “It’s all down to perception.”
So how do you mend a broken heart? I am not sure but I think a hearty mix of nostalgia, music and good memories is a fine place to start. xoxo