Setting the Intention…
Years ago I was studying under a Yaqui Indian elder and he spoke, and speaks, at length about defining our purpose, about setting our intention, establishing our identity and reaffirming it daily, hourly, every minute, and every second. Doing so helps us live our most authentic life.
Some do this by quoting chapter and verse. Some meditate and chant mantras.
My prayers are carried to heaven by Brian Wilson’s tender falsetto. My intentions are set through poets, songwriters, and novelists.
I recently recommitted myself to this essential exercise in the form of a simple playlist during my morning shower.
I stagger out of bed, walk into the bathroom and mumble “Alexa, start my day…”
And so it begins….
Breakaway – Beach Boys, 1969
When I laid down on my bed I heard voices in my head
Telling me now hey it’s only a dream
The more I thought of it I had been out of it
And here’s the answer I found instead
I found out it was in my head
And I can breakaway to the better life
Where the shackles never hold me down
I’m gonna make a way for each happy day
As my life turns around…
I think most of us have that little voice in our heads that tells us we’re aren’t good enough, that maybe whatever mistakes we think we made are so big that we’ll never recover from. These voices might tell us it’s too late to do something or we’re too old to change anything in our lives. Whatever.
But the fact is that we can break away from those thoughts. We must break away from those thoughts if we’re going to live the life we want, that we deserve.
Omaha – Counting Crows, 1993
I wrote at length about this in my last article. The same sentiments continue to hold true.
Omaha
Somewhere in Middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It’s the heart that matters more
I think you’d better turn your ticket in
And get your money right at the door
Not only is it truly The Heart that matters more but yeah, sometimes you gotta know when to turn that ticket in, get your money back at the door, and move on.
You & Me – Dave Matthews, 2009
I’ve never been a massive Dave Matthews fan but I’ve been sifting through some of the band’s immense catalog and discovering real gems. This is my favorite.
Oh and when the kids are old enough
We’re gonna teach them to fly
It’s all at once an intimate devotional and a statement on the power born of a friendship forged in the flames of lives lived in a furnace of struggle and doubt, fear and anxiety but resolute in its refusal to surrender.
You and I, we’re not tied to the ground
Not falling but rising like rolling around
Eyes closed above the rooftops
Eyes closed, we’re gonna spin through the stars
Our arms wide as the sky
We gonna ride the blue all the way to the end of the world
To the end of the world
The other line that really gets me is:
Oh and when the kids are old enough
We’re gonna teach them to fly
That’s all I want in life, both for my son and for any kids that come across me. Over the years I’ve become more married to the idea of being the kind of person that my 15 year old self would have needed around. My son will indeed fly.
Here on Out – Dave Matthews Band, 2018
TWO songs by Dave Matthews! Who would have thought?!
I’m a sucker for a tender love song and in that respect it does serve an important role in setting my intention for the day…to soften my heart, to remind myself that I can give and receive it but it also brings me back to my son.
And now I’m opened up
I am strong and wild
Like a storm out the stars in my blood
And it’s all because of you, you my love
This is insanely vibrant, passionate, independent, strong, charismatic, and loving boy has opened my heart and mind in ways I never thought possible. Where words like “broken down” and “old” and “worn” were common in how I described myself, I now find myself using words like “strong,” “energized,” “inspired,” and yeah, I’ve even captured a bit of that “wild” feeling that seems to fade with youth…and it’s all because of him and one of the purest loves I’ve ever felt in my life.
Wrecking Ball – Mother Mother, 2008
Now it’s time to get the blood pumping. Now it’s time to start bopping my head in the shower.
It takes a dedicated hand
To put it through the wall
You got to want to break the hearts
Of all those pretty porcelain dolls
You got to want to be the drummer in the band
You got to want to be a battering ram
You got to see the artistry
In tearing the place apart with me, baby
It is at once both an affirmation of my basest impulse to just burn it all down just because I can and yet a reminder as to why I shouldn’t. It’s the duality that lives within and without me.
There’s a time and place to let the wrecking ball swing and it’s best done with that manic partner in crime but there’s also a time for nuanced and strategic action.
By the time this one ends, my motor starts to rev up bringing me into the last tune…
Hay Loft – Mother Mother, 2008
Young lovers and they are not sleeping
Young lovers in the hay…LOFT!
My daddy’s got a gun…
That hi-hat, the bass line churning, unrelenting in how it propels everything forward…it give me a much need jolt of movement because…movement is key. We keep pushing forward. We keep moving. What’s that noise? There’s a creaking coming from the hay LOFT…let’s go check it out.
And with that, I’m getting dressed and I’m out the door.
And while the songs may change from time time, (they did a week or so ago and I’m sure they’ll change again in a week or two) the intention remains the same:
Be Well and Kind, and Believe that I can keep moving forward in life with clear eyes and a heart full of love the people around me as well as myself.
That last part hasn’t always been easy but every day, I set my intention and I stay locked in.
Until next time,
Be Well and Kind…..and Believe,
Jason