A Few Words on the Soul

It's been a while. I've been up in the Bronx for the majority of the week lately with my uncle and I finally managed to find the time and hopefully some good deep content to write about, maybe I can go somewhere.

Well, to begin with - I'm a music head. See, I'm making myself sound normal when I say that because if someone was to check out the library I have, it runs well over a decent sized hard drive and it grows weekly. Filter that some more and the majority is just Hip-Hop, Soul and other "chill-out" genre's of the sort. However, there's this one genre, that touches me deeply. It's called NEO-SOUL... Now I'm a big fan of Soul music, the original soul but Neo-Soul is on another level when it comes to that heart felt music everyone should listen to from time to time.

So, why do I speak of this today. What possible significance could this possibly have to anything really. Well, maybe it doesn't to most people - but I feel compelled to speak out, so just hear me out... You might learn something.

I'm a soft person, a very soft-spoken person, and I do not like talking all that much, except for occasions like these when I feel that people around me could benefit from the wealth of knowledge I have to offer. I feel Neo-Soul is the same way to an extent because Neo-Soul is also soft-spoken, and it's rare to hear but when you hear it talking, you feel it. You feel something inside of you that is heart warming and almost enlightening, I'm telling you, Neo-Soul HEALS... It really does, no joke - I assure you. If you listen to a singer that puts more Soul than you and your friends would in living normal life, you are going to feel something inside of you. It's powerful and if your a damaged soul who is looking for a way of healing and getting back on track, I suggest you look into this genre and find that particular artist that just brings emotions to you to show you how human you are and how beautiful everything is around you. Trust me, every time I listen to Rahsaan Patterson sing live and do his improvisations I just get lifted. Here's a link that heals me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Cff3en_Fw&feature=related

For most people, its just music or a good tune... Impressive singing, nice beats, what not. I choose to look deeper into it because music wasn't made mindlessly to begin with, so why listen to it mindlessly? Think about it.

The Process of Healing and Growing through Neo-Soul

See, I learn a lot of things from music. I listen to Neo-Soul on a level that I allow it to teach me. To teach me how to love a women, to teach me how to live life in happiness, to be SOULFUL. Key word: Soulful. That's an important concept in living this very short life we live because people who dont know how to be Soulful end up getting the short end of the stick and it's quite sad. No one wants to be in that position but it seems that all too often people shoot themselves in the foot. People make problems, hurt peoples feelings out of selfish impulse, or refuse to search for solutions that can help them and end up making their life harder. People like that have a lot to learn about becoming Soulful - to learn to smile at yourself in the mirror in the face of despair or in the eve of disaster. It's a VERY advanced self-control skill that is very beneficial to the self if it can be accomplished. I'm not sure if the very singers I listen to have accomplished this themselves, but that doesn't matter because we are ALL students to this concept including me. But being Soulful is the first step.

I do not want people to think that learning this form of self-control, through the vein of Neo-Soul, is difficult. A lot of things in life are not so simple but it doesn't mean that their difficult. I do not want people want people to think that its formulaic either. I'm trying to tell people that there is fluidity in everything we do, everything that exists has fluidity including Neo-Soul, and Neo-Soul is just another concept in the grand scheme of concepts and things. It's as simple as smiling and enjoying life to the fullest and loosing fear for the mundane things that confront us.

It takes is compassion to the people that surround you, including your enemies, now you dont have to suck up to the enemies but you can be passive even if most wont realize or notice your mature stance toward the situation. Remember that being soulful isn't about producing an image to the outside in order to make yourself feel adequate. It's about generating inner strength and purpose; Soul, to not be afraid of what others think because your soul is more beautiful than any mask you can put on for the public. I'm telling you to listen, learn and empower. People will respect you more and will come to recognize that you possess a force stronger than their own, if they have not learned this concept of living.

I've learned to use the Soul through a number of ways but listening to Neo-Soul inspires something within me that words just can't explain. There is just so much to learn, and I continue to learn from it every time I listen and reflect. I've gone over very basic forms of self-control, healing and growth. To grow is a form of healing and in fact you can kill two birds with one stone that way because you move forward yet you are sewing up your wounds.

One thing that is so beautiful about Neo-Soul is the sense of NOW that flow within its basic form. It's really poetry that is spoken because many of us are so caught up in the past, could be bad things that happened to us, our hearts were broken or we lost someone we loved. And other cases we are caught up in the future, where are we going, are we making the right choices, and will we be happy tomorrow? These questions can damage our perspective of life to a point that we loose the means to understand ourselves and grow, thus we loose our Soul. When you focus on the Now and apply full focus at the things that are in the present time we see a lot more. We apply ourselves better, we observe the little things in life and we are more composed mentally and prepared for things to come. To sum it up, the Soul is in line with the mind. This is what I hear in the music I listen to, it may be "out there" but I'm sure every person who loves music has a particular song that flips a switch for the better in them.

To put it in a nutshell, I read a lot of books regarding philosophy and spiritualism however sometimes one finds ways of living through the most basic forms of expression. In this case, I have found the genre of Neo-Soul ideal for my journey, and I'm sure there are people out there that share the same journey as me. However, Neo-Soul isn't the only genre that you can learn from. A friend of mine is a big time Metal head and finds his source of knowledge from the strings of a guitar, and it works for him. It just comes to show how powerful music can be when it comes to healing and developing the self. Next time you tune in to your favorite genre or song, why don't you try to listen in closer and see how the song really talks to you. You might learn something.

Peace,
Zero

Oh and if your interested in listening to some Neo-Soul here are some artist worth looking into:

Musiq Soulchild
Dwele
Raphael Saadiq
Rahsaan Patterson
Eric Robertson
Raheem Devaughn
Jill Scott
D'Angelo
Eric Benet
John Legend
Brian McKnight
Anthony Hamilton
Angie Stone
Seal
Amel Larrieux
Ledisi
Goapele
Frank McComb
Tony Toni Tone
Donnel Jones
Erykah Badu
Maxwell

Theres probably more... Too lazy to write em all, I've gave enough to start with.