How Our Words Are Spells
In this episode, Vanessa Forbes and I talk about how our words have so much power. The words we speak can transform our world from within, creating our own reality. Speaking from our hearts and communicating deeply with people through stories. Vanessa shares how she writes her song lyrics and how the songs have resonated with people from all over the world.
Show Notes Links:
Vanessa Forbes
https://vanessaforbes.com/
Full Podcast Transcription:
Vanessa Forbes
[00:00:00] Hey, I
[00:00:02] Host: hope you're well, welcome to the today dreamer podcast and welcome to this present moment. This fresh, unique current moment of being in the here and the now I'm your host, Michael. And together through conversations, we'll be exploring how to deepen our practice of presence. And how to integrate dreaming with doing and being in service of the blossoming of an emergent world story.
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[00:02:26] Into the hearts and minds of everyone that engages at listens. So yeah, if you're digging these chats, please consider taking things to the next level@patrion.com forward slash today. Today's conversation is with Vanessa Forbes and it is around speaking and singing things into being evoking. Evoking, what you would like to arise into being Vanessa and I met years ago at a handpan gathering handpan is a steel drum that I play and, oh, it just started raining quite heavily where I am.
[00:03:10] So handpan is still drunk. Actually. I'll get it out. I'll give you a quick look.
[00:03:26] Yeah. So that was the hand pan. And we met at a handpan gathering and I was going through quite a difficult time. I just can't get over this. It's just the most beautiful rainbow has just appeared. Just a little shower of rain towards the end of winter, followed by a beautiful rainbow in the sky. Yes, right.
[00:03:50] When I'm talking about how I met with Vanessa, sorry, I went through probably the most difficult time in my life, right around the time that I began this podcast, actually. And during that period, I was in a very heavy and intense place and Vanessa's music really made me feel. Loved and safe and held. So I stayed in touch with Vanessa by reconnecting with her through a written letter and inviting her for a conversation.
[00:04:28] And she said, yes. So she came on the show and shared a little bit more about her work and about her journey. And it was a beautiful conversation. That'd be different to the style that we usually go down. But I feel like. Conversation is unique and different in its own special way. And yeah, a little bit later during the episode, I will play you one of Vanessa's songs.
[00:04:53] Actually, the one that, you know, really got me through some difficult times as I like to do before the start of every episode, I'd like to invite you to pause for a moment, just to pause from whatever's happening in your life and take a mindful breath. Usually do this by. As slow as possible and as naturally as possible breathing in through the nose and into the belly, deep into the belly, pausing at the Mo at the top, at the crescendo, at the peak of the mountain, and just sitting in that space before gracefully exhaling and pausing at the bottom as well.
[00:05:36] And when we drop into that space with one another, Gently take off into our conversation and see what insights and knowledge and wisdom we can uncover. So invite everyone to generally close their eyes.
[00:05:55] Just the slowest naturally feels possible. Take in a really nice deep inhalation through the nose.
[00:06:21] take your time with it. And when you reached the top, take a moment just to pause for exhaling. Just this gradually in general. I am.
[00:07:07] So what kind of feels like a nice place to start is you are safe. Yeah. Kind of the feeling that I just had with that breath in a sense. Um, yeah. Yeah. So I think this was like probably the first song I really connected to of yours possibly. I mean, could have been another one, but every time I play it, I really feel like, like I'm being held by the universe as strange as that may seem or that, cause I think that's kind of like we met at a hand pan retreat years ago.
[00:07:46] It was only briefly I connected to your music live in that night and I got a CD. You know, just kind of had it there and yeah, then it just seemed to kind of arise at the perfect time when I was really going through a struggle. And you mentioned that a lot of people have connected to that song, or there have been some people where that song kind of stands out amongst a lot of the other tracks that you've put together.
[00:08:12] And I guess I was wondering, you know, what, I can just kind of see for myself a connection, um, It was almost like the music was in a sense healing, a trauma that I had some way of something that was going on. And that was just the most beautiful feeling. Um, yeah. Yeah. Just, I was just kind of wondering what state you might've been in when you put that together and, um, yeah, if that kind of linked up to the creation process in any, any way.
[00:08:47] Guest: Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm just
[00:08:49] so happy to hear that it, that it had that effect on you and that it really helped the, um, transition that you were going through at the time. I just, it's always music to
[00:08:59] my ears to hear
[00:09:01] that that's, that that's the effect that the song has had because,
[00:09:05] uh, how I
[00:09:05] wrote it or what happened was I was in a time in my life where I was working incredibly hard.
[00:09:11] I had my own business. And I was burnt out, but I still had to keep working. I had a lot of staff and, um, a lot of overheads, so I was working crazy hours and I went to bed one night and I was in that state, you know, that state when you're too tired to go to sleep, but you're too tired to actually do anything as well.
[00:09:33] Um, kind of too jumpy. So I was in that state mind, it was about midnight and I'd just got home from work and I thought, I'll look, you know what I'm going to do. I'm going to. Same. I'm just going to sing and plank attack. Cause that chills me out. So I started to sing, um, the Gaietry Metra and I was singing the one, um, the David Gaietry Metro at the time and the Garcetti Metro for anyone who's listening, who doesn't know what it is.
[00:10:01] It's uh, it's a sacred chant, um, that has been around for, for thousands of years. Millions of people chanted every day. Um, it's an Indian chant, uh, and it is it basically the, the translation is you are the source, please. Aluminate my mind, please. Aluminate my heart. So it was really asking for enlightenment and many people chanted.
[00:10:27] In the morning, sunrise and at sunset as well. So I was chanting this for about 20 minutes and I was starting to relax and starting to feel a little bit human again. And I thought to myself as I was
[00:10:41] singing it, I thought, you know, universe, if you, if you want to enlighten me, if you want to,
[00:10:47] you know, help me through this time,
[00:10:50] can you tell me.
[00:10:52] Can you enlighten me in English and in simple English that I can understand. And I don't need anything fancy. Just, just tell me, just tell me what, what you want me to know, but make it clear. And then, then this thinner, um, words came out, you are safe, you know, I'm never leaving you,
[00:11:11] your, your loved,
[00:11:13] um, two beautiful, your infinite, your eternal, your.
[00:11:21] Immortal. So I
[00:11:23] guess really,
[00:11:25] I kept seeing that over and over and over again. And then I went to sleep and I had a really good sleep. And the next day my flatmate came into me and he goes, what was that song that you were saying last night? It was making me cry. I was on my bed and it was making me cry.
[00:11:41] And, um, I said, God, it's a bit like it was personal for me. Like I didn't want to share it. Cause I was like, oh my God, you know, everyone's going to think this is really, um, tacky or, or something. And anyway, we had friends come around and he's like, next, next, next week, please sing that song. We sing that song.
[00:12:00] And every time somebody came around, I got sort of college into seeing a song and then that kind of the word got out. And then I was singing it all over town. I just kept getting asked to sing that song. And, um, for me, it's like, it's the common denominator between with all of us, you know, all of our hearts where, you know, we all want to know that we're safe and that we're loved and that way, uh, not going to do.
[00:12:29] You know, and that also, you know, in the song that says, I'm never leaving, I'm closer to you. Then, then your heart beats, you know, you we're joined we're together. So it's really the primordial
[00:12:43] Podio concern that I think
[00:12:45] maybe many of us have, um, that we're alone and we're not. So for me, it was a really healing song and it really helped me through.
[00:12:57] Through my time. And then I've just had responses from people all over the world, all over the world. I've had people play it to their husbands who are dying. I've had people play it to their children every night when they go to bed, I've had people play it. Um, while they're giving birth, um, I've had people.
[00:13:22] All over the world, contacting me and saying that they heard it this retreat or at that retreat. Um, and people saying that it's just really, really helped them through their time. So, um, yeah, so I'm really, really grateful that the song is there and that this is the response that has had. So thank you for sharing your story with me because.
[00:13:48] What was the cause of my heart to hear it. Yeah.
[00:13:51] Host: It's just like, yeah, it's all kind of, they're all kind of coming back into you and it's interesting how you've kind of, you know, that prayer was answered in the deepest sense. And I think the power of just speaking something out and having, you know, the power behind the words and having some real kind of connection or communication outlet.
[00:14:14] It can be a powerful thing. Like there's almost like a relationship that's being formed through that process and yeah, it's interesting.
[00:14:25] Guest: Yeah.
[00:14:27] Thanks. Something out loud. It's really can be really powerful content, especially if it's something that, you know, in our culture saying that we're immortal or saying that we're infinite, um,
[00:14:39] is not really.
[00:14:42] Well saying that we're eternal, you know, it's not, it's not really done. It's not really
[00:14:46] spoken about that much. So it's, it's
[00:14:51] a powerful thing.
[00:14:53] Definitely bringing that out into that.
[00:14:55] Host: Yeah. It definitely feels like there's a lot of fear around death, but it's kind of subdued. And like you mentioned distraction earlier and all these other things, it seems like the attention.
[00:15:06] Kind of drawn away. And from that space, at least it's not really explored that often or spoken about, and this idea of safety, like there's just fear that is bred from that. And it seems like it's harder to make decisions from a place of. Of love, um, when, when there's like fear around, you know, so I think moving into those kinds of, um, like ways of being into those decisions in our lives, uh, stems from kind of feeling safe in a sense, or reminding ourselves that we are, or connecting with something that, you know, helps us feel that.
[00:15:51] Guest: Yeah, I agree
[00:15:52] with you, you know, and that, I think that fear, that feeling of fear is quite, um, can often be quite hidden or quite subconscious. You know, you don't even realize that you're scared of something, of whatever that may be, whether it's, um, death, whether it's not being able to pay your rent, whether it's, whatever it is, social acceptance, whatever it is.
[00:16:13] This seems to be that there is a lot of fear. I think all in my psyche.
[00:16:18] Yeah. Um, so yeah, it's, it's nice to,
[00:16:25] uh, I find, I find that, um, if I start to consciously be grateful for what I do have, and, you know, look out for ways that I am actually held by the universe, it really helps me in my life and in my. To keep pointing my brain in that
[00:16:46] direction.
[00:16:47] Host: Yeah. It probably helps other people as well around you and probably, you know, all that, all of that gets probably channeled into your music and your work as well. You know, like it's, it's such an amplifying kind of contagious effect.
[00:17:01] Guest: Yeah.
[00:17:03] Host: So what's, what's going on now, tell me about this, this new album.
[00:17:06] And tell me about the change in direction and yeah. Share a little bit about that if you cook some really curious.
[00:17:13] Guest: Yeah. So,
[00:17:14] um,
[00:17:15] so I, that the recording
[00:17:18] process of that album was really, really fascinating on one hand and, and really difficult on another hand. And I really felt like a total lack of control, um, around.
[00:17:31] What happens. I mean, because it was just me and my guitar and it's a little bit like when you have a camera and you go and take a photo of a beautiful sunset, and then you look at the photo on your camera and there's just like, it hasn't captured it at all. You know, that feeling. And so I realized that the recording process is exactly the same, you know, you can have what you think has a beautiful song and, and sing it into a microphone and play guitar.
[00:17:56] And when you listen back to it, it's. Sounds
[00:17:59] rubbish.
[00:18:01] And I'm like, oh hell, what am I going to do? And how, how do they do it? So it started me on a journey of, of understanding what makes good dynamics, who is songs and, and how, how to keep the, the listener's ear. Appreciating different things and how to, how to make it more dynamic rather than just a guitar and a voice.
[00:18:26] And so, um,
[00:18:27] my first album, I, the producer
[00:18:30] that I had was, um, a local guy in Sydney called Blair Greenberg. And he, he, he
[00:18:35] loves the songs. He
[00:18:36] just totally loved the songs and he just took me under his wing and he just did everything. So I just did the, the, um, The guitar and the
[00:18:46] voice, and he put all the drums on
[00:18:48] and really helped me with other musicians to bring it in and make it the beautiful album that it is.
[00:18:54] You know, it wasn't, you know, I had the all songs and, and he, he did the rest of it. And, um, I could have gone back to him again for the next album, but I wanted to sort of experiment and start to, um, broaden my horizons. Well, what was possible and what could be done with the technology that we've got today, you know, we've
[00:19:20] all we, anybody who wants to, who's got a computer, can
[00:19:23] buy the recording software and on that recording software, there's all kinds of samples and loops and things that you can play with.
[00:19:31] And so, you know, your songs are limited by your imagination rating. And, um, at the same time, I also really love a little bit of trance music, a little bit of electronic. And a little bit about Tronic. Like, do you remember massive attack and tricky
[00:19:48] and Motiva back in the day? Yeah. Yeah. So I really love that kind of
[00:19:52] music as well.
[00:19:53] So I wanted to combine for this next album, um, my phone calls and my songs with a little bit of electronica underneath it. So, um, while Blair is awesome, I didn't know whether he had done much of that. Cause he's more of a, uh, uh, a percussionist. What keep drama himself, but I wanted to just explore and experiment.
[00:20:17] And, um, I had a, I had two frozen shoulders from my work basically. Um, and I couldn't play guitar. So I thought, well, this is a perfect time to start to learn how to work these software programs. So I started on logic and, um, they were the songs that I. Experimented with. And at the same time, um, I was, I had joined a songwriting club code.
[00:20:43] I had song writing and it was a club where you had an hour to write a song once a week and they'd give you a word. And, um, so I would write the song and record it throughout that week. And that's how I came up with these songs.
[00:21:04] So it's interesting because.
[00:21:07] You say how many people will take one word and have a completely different song?
[00:21:15] You know, like a completely different style and a completely different song would come out of each, each person each week. And my ones were always around, um, how I saw the world really how I see
[00:21:29] my, my spiritual
[00:21:33] journey or my evolution. Um Hm. How can I turn things around, you know, how can I, if I'm, if I'm in pain, emotional or physical, how can I look at it
[00:21:44] a different way?
[00:21:46] So that's what my songs were about.
[00:21:48] So yeah, that's, that's where it's at. And at the
[00:21:51] moment, um, I was looking for a
[00:21:55] producer of kind of electronic music to
[00:21:58] help me to
[00:22:01] finalize it or give it a bit more finesse. Um, Someone who is an expert in the field. And I've actually think I've found somebody in the states he's done the first one.
[00:22:12] You heard him visible. I think I sent you two songs. One was invisible and the other one was, um, strangers, I think. And the invisible ones, one that sounded professional. That was,
[00:22:25] that
[00:22:25] was his, his tastes sort of boosted up all the focals and,
[00:22:29] um, yeah, that was
[00:22:30] Host: good.
[00:22:33] Guest: Yeah, it changed the drums around.
[00:22:34] So I think what I'm doing is I'll, I'll, I'll do 75% of it or 80% of it and send, send it over to him, to, to
[00:22:43] Georgia.
[00:22:44] Host: Yeah. It's not a bad plan. Yeah. But it was really groovy by the way, I was like getting into it. I was like, this is good. Yeah. So different. It was really cool. I really enjoyed also the, you seems like you've been writing songs for quite a while and from what you told me before, I think. You started playing guitar around the same time as you started writing music.
[00:23:07] Is that right?
[00:23:08] Guest: Yeah. Yep. Um, guitar has a really beautiful, a compliment
[00:23:14] to writing music. Do you think
[00:23:16] Host: it's easy to learn to sing when you're, when you're playing guitar?
[00:23:22] Guest: I think it is easier, but it's not
[00:23:25] a hundred percent necessary, but I think it is easier. Yeah. And because, you know, you can, you can sort of piddle around on three or four chords and make up a tune and then
[00:23:36] put some words to it.
[00:23:38] Yeah. So,
[00:23:40] um, that's how my last album was done. I mean, all of those songs are, uh, many of those songs are two or three
[00:23:47] chords sets it
[00:23:49] and I've just been sort of floating around in my bedroom, just writing chest, not
[00:23:54] even. Floating around with two or three chords
[00:23:58] and literally coming up with a tune and putting, putting words to it.
[00:24:02] I mean, that's how I do it. Everybody
[00:24:04] will
[00:24:04] write differently. And some people find it really difficult to write and other people find it really easy. Um, it, for me, it's a little bit like putting a jigsaw piece of jigsaw puzzle together. It's starts off with some chords and then it's like, what do I want to say?
[00:24:26] Host: Um, just feeling into that process. So it seems like, yeah, a lot of the music that I've heard, especially those, those two tracks recently, one of them in particular, I remember which one it was, but it felt like there was like a lot of experience behind the words and that it felt like they really, maybe that's the reason why, because you felt into it more than just kind of, I don't know.
[00:24:47] You've really felt into it. I'm not sure what the other side of that would be, but yeah. It's like there's Le but it seems like that's like a particular style with your music. I think I'm not sure if you've heard this before, but there's like a, there's a real kind of insightful sense to it, which is nice.
[00:25:02] Guest: Yeah. Um, yes.
[00:25:05] And thanks for that. I'm so glad that you have picked up on that. It's basically
[00:25:10] it does tie into. I guess
[00:25:14] when I was in my mid thirties, I didn't have any, anything that I wanted in my life. Nothing had really come to pass. I mean,
[00:25:23] I'd had a great time in my twenties
[00:25:26] and I downloaded partying a lot of traveling, but by my mid thirties, I realized that, you know, I'm doing something wrong because I haven't got, um, where I'm not where I thought I would be at 35 and.
[00:25:41] I did a lot of, I, I kind of figured that the common denominator was me. There was throughout my life. I was the common denominator, you
[00:25:51] know, so I thought, what
[00:25:53] am I doing? That's not, not producing results that I want. I didn't have a partner. I didn't really have a going concern as a business. I didn't really
[00:26:02] have much money.
[00:26:03] I just didn't really have anything
[00:26:05] that I wanted. And. So I started to do some self improvement workshops. I like, I did land map for him and I did the duty and I did, um, quite a few different group kind of workshops to try and figure out what was going on beneath the surface that I wasn't attracting what I wanted into my life.
[00:26:29] So, um, every single workshop that I had. Was another stepping stone in, it really helped me and my journey. And then I did come across some,
[00:26:40] I do remember that conversations with God book and I
[00:26:46] fell in love with that. I read that so many times. And then I went found Esther Hicks, Abraham and Hicks, which is
[00:26:54] a book called ask him that has given.
[00:26:56] Yeah. And I started
[00:26:58] to, um, I started to experiment with their manifestation techniques and that just
[00:27:05] completely blew my mind
[00:27:07] completely and utterly was a revolution for me. And I worked with that. And one of the, one of the principles of
[00:27:18] the whole art of manifestation is
[00:27:21] every, every thought that we think, we think that thoughts are in our head and that that's where.
[00:27:28] But actually our thoughts are vibration and they go out, they're transmitted as energetic vibration to the universe and the universe responds, um, to the, to that vibration. So if we are constantly feeling down on ourselves or constantly, um, you
[00:27:50] know, struggling with whatever the
[00:27:52] universe goes. Oh yeah, sure.
[00:27:53] I'll give that back to you. I'll give that to you. So. It suddenly started to realize that whatever my thoughts were, they weren't contained in my head, but I actually needed to, um, revolutionize them and that to change the way that I was thinking in order to create the life that I wanted to. And that's exactly what I did.
[00:28:14] I did start to change my thinking and, um, I became conscious of negative self-belief and you know, all those things that we grow up with. Obstacles that we put in our path or that have been put on our path by our family. And I started to dissect them and let them go and, um, started to create or to, I started to strengthen my gratitude muscle and my trust muscle.
[00:28:43] And by doing exercises with those
[00:28:45] two every day,
[00:28:49] Host: just out of curiosity,
[00:28:50] Guest: um,
[00:28:52] I, I
[00:28:53] learned that
[00:28:55] surrender surrender goes with trust. So surrender is not for me now. It used to be, I used to think that surrender was, um, the white flag, you know, um, hanging the white font sign, the white flag of surrender I you've won.
[00:29:10] And what I realized is surrender is an ability to allow whatever's happening in your life to,
[00:29:18] um, to be there without
[00:29:20] fighting against. Understanding, and it goes hand in hand with trust that you are in the perfect place, always at the perfect time. Um, and that, so I could sort of start to see that I was in a particular place in my life.
[00:29:36] And instead of struggling against it, I could go, ah, it's okay, I'm here because this is what I've created.
[00:29:42] And this is what
[00:29:45] this is where I'm being held in the universe. I can trust that I
[00:29:48] can be held and.
[00:29:51] So I can start now to look at how I can change my
[00:29:57] thought patterns
[00:29:59] so I can move from this place. I can see it as contrast of what I don't
[00:30:05] want.
[00:30:07] Does that make sense? Yeah,
[00:30:08] Host: it makes total sense. Yeah. So, yeah. It's interesting. Just thinking of that inflection point, that point of switch, I guess. Yeah. You know, when, when then you started moving into this realization that, you know, everything that that's going on on the inside is then reflected outside.
[00:30:25] So you're, you're a year adjusting kind of the inside. And you're your things change at that point then, like you mentioned, you it's another, it just becomes a point to contrast, to like another point on the journey. Um, but that process is like a beautiful one as well. Like this kind of, yeah. Um, going through that and having that ref that time or that moment just think of it as like one interesting moment, but it's probably many put together, um, until things kind of begin to change.
[00:30:57] Um, I guess things are always changing, but it's like, that seems like a significant point of change in, in, in like a midlife passage, you know, you said you're around 35. So that was when you started singing and stuff.
[00:31:09] Guest: Yeah. That's when
[00:31:09] I started, I started singing a couple of years before
[00:31:12] and I'd been singing songs.
[00:31:14] Um, yeah, no,
[00:31:17] I, I, I started singing about Susie, I think. And I had, instead of playing guitar around about that time too, but the songs that I'm seeing were kind of lamenting songs, you know,
[00:31:29] lost love or. So
[00:31:32] basically what happened was when I sort of started to understand the whole laws of the universe, so to speak or that, that the law of attraction.
[00:31:42] Um, I realized that if I sang lamenting songs, then that's going out into the universe and that's, I don't want more lamenting songs. I want songs to be grateful for. I want to be. Grateful in my life. I want to have so much fun or so much, so many lovely experiences or adventure that I really needed to focus
[00:32:04] Host: on the good thing.
[00:32:05] Uh, poking that into your, into your life by putting it out because that's a form of vibration as well. Your words, your, your, your voice.
[00:32:15] Guest: Yeah. Well, if you, if you do
[00:32:17] anything like, um, if you do any singing or any music or any dance, um, Anything like that is actually giving it another turbo boost. It's not even just speaking.
[00:32:29] It's actually you're putting.
[00:32:32] Host: Yeah, I think that's why it's so important to put something into it. Like you said, like the feel, even if it sounds terrible to you or you record it and play it back, and it's not exactly how you want it, as long as you're putting that feeling in. Uh, I think that's, that's where the, that that's heavy info.
[00:32:46] I didn't really, I didn't think of it as a way of like amplifying more than speaking, but it seems, it seems to make sense because you're really.
[00:32:55] Guest: Yeah. Yeah. And this is what I
[00:32:57] learned with the whole manifestation thing, too. You can think something, but if you think something with emotion,
[00:33:03] your turbo
[00:33:03] blasting it, your turbo blasting, the effectiveness of that thought out there.
[00:33:10] So, and it's another way I've to turn my blasting. It is doing an interview. Yeah. That's why group work group therapy and stuff like that. It's so strong. I found, I had found it really
[00:33:20] strong
[00:33:21] Host: chatting as well.
[00:33:23] Guest: Chanting. Absolutely. So, um,
[00:33:26] I I've been, I held brute chanting in Sydney for
[00:33:30] years.
[00:33:33] Yes. For years and years.
[00:33:34] And, and, um, actually the CD after this one is going to be a chanting CD because it's the same thing. It's.
[00:33:43] Projecting vibration.
[00:33:45] Host: Yeah, this is so exciting. Cause it was kind of like the space I'm playing in at the moment. Like starting to hold groups with chanting, even though my chanting, it's not that great.
[00:33:53] Um, from like a sanding point of view or at least I don't think it is. Yeah, but it's still in development, I guess. Um, I really enjoy the energy in the space when, when a group gets together and we're able to kind of connect, connecting and, and create that amplification because it's, I think it's powerful.
[00:34:14] And I think it goes beyond the space that we're in, in that moment because people go back out into their lives. And I believe they carry some of that feeling. Um, cause it's undeniable, it's probably not quantifiable, but everyone in the rooms connected in that, in those moments of chanting, uh, I'd be a bit more, um, I guess saliently than people would realize otherwise.
[00:34:36] And they go out and some of that beautiful energy is passed on to their family or their friends. I dunno, it's such a special thing, isn't it? It's just a feeling as well.
[00:34:46] Guest: Yeah. Isn't it a great thing today? It's just a lovely thing. There's something about a whole bunch of people seeing together, and that's great that you're leading chanting, you know, and you know, you might
[00:34:56] it's, it's
[00:34:57] not about whether it's, whether you feel like you're good or not.
[00:35:00] Actually it's all about intention.
[00:35:03] Thinking
[00:35:03] together and, um, you know, having a field, a forcefield together of positivity or, or invoking what you want to invoke.
[00:35:14] Host: It's interesting. Sorry. What were you going to say?
[00:35:17] Guest: Ah, the other thing I love about
[00:35:19] chanting is, um, I think some people get freaked out by chanting because it's, you're chanting the name.
[00:35:25] Oh, that's the Sanskrit chanting is chanting the names of Hindu gods and goddesses and. You know, it's not people think it can be a cultural, you know, or they get a bit worried, but
[00:35:37] it's not about
[00:35:39] being a Hindu. It's about, for me, it's about invoking the spirit of something good. You know, this, the, the spirit of divine and I couldn't
[00:35:51] chant
[00:35:52] because I, I have so much
[00:35:54] or so, you know,
[00:35:57] the whole Christian thing.
[00:35:58] I mean, I grew up Christian. Um, and it's not that I have anything against Jesus Christ, for example, but I do have a hell of a lot against the church. Um, and so if I hit, if I was singing,
[00:36:12] Jesus
[00:36:12] loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. There's no way you'd get me to do it, but I can sing. I'm going down to Pattaya.
[00:36:18] Namaha
[00:36:18] easily enough because it
[00:36:20] is not got my own personal religious baggage that comes along with it. Do you find the.
[00:36:27] Host: I don't find the same thing as that. I do. I think I I've. Yeah. I can see how that could be a thing. Uh, for me it's like, it almost doesn't matter what I Chan, even if it's nothing to do with any religion, if it's just words that I've come up with that, you know, I'm kind of, they're just coming from a place of deep, true.
[00:36:45] Then it's all good. Yeah. But I definitely what I do find a similar experience to what you mentioned though, is I remember going in to I'm the same in the respect of like, I dunno for me, I'm in a different kind of space, I guess, religiously. I haven't had that background and. Yeah, I don't have those kind of sense of tension, but I do feel as though, um, I did feel at one point a stage of apprehensive, I say like a stage of apprehension in terms of going into, you know, um, Singing about God's.
[00:37:17] I didn't quite understand the idea of kind of maybe looking into what you're singing about instead of blindly singing. I kind of liked that personally. Um, but I like the idea of kind of, I don't know, like having that, meaning it doesn't have to be super crystal clearly defined, but you know, in resonating with you in some way, uh, for me, I was going through this journey of it was Shiva actually.
[00:37:41] And this, this idea of kind of, um, moving into this space. Kind of familiar. I was singing at the time too, the sense of transformation and renewal that I felt like I was ready for in my life. And I felt like just, I was reflecting on this the other day. It really brought that about, because I had that kind of, I was really holding that even though, you know, I haven't deeply studied Hinduism or haven't gone into the God.
[00:38:08] I hadn't gotten to the gods really deeply at that point. It really wasn't even that attracted to it. It still had that effect because I kind of caught on to a meeting and I, and I held that Troy in my own way. Um, yeah. So I guess I can relate in that
[00:38:22] Guest: sense. Yeah, that's beautifully
[00:38:24] put because it's all about intention, isn't it, it doesn't matter what you're actually singing.
[00:38:28] It's, it's what
[00:38:28] you're holding to
[00:38:31] Host: and making it your own as well. Like in whatever way that is for you, whatever feels right. You know? Yeah. It's like being open to it as well. I think there's like we can often be close to trying different things or we can have some kind of an assumption about things when we might not, you know, we haven't dived in just yet.
[00:38:49] Guest: Absolutely. I completely agree with you being open to it and, and, and making it
[00:38:56] whatever it means to you.
[00:45:15] Host: If you've ever made music with your sister together?
[00:45:20] Guest: Well, uh, she's in a, she is a beautiful musician. Yeah. Um,
[00:45:28] yeah. And, um,
[00:45:30] she is a lot,
[00:45:32] technically a hell of a lot better than I am. So, um, Played music with her music, but she has come in and put, um, guitar and a few things on my
[00:45:44] last CD and
[00:45:47] she's coming and put, you know, she played, you know, at the CD launch and things like that.
[00:45:52] So she's coming when I needed her to, and on this last album, on this album that I'm doing at the moment, like there's a song. See now, can you please look at this? It needs a bridge and I can't think of what to do. And she came back and she just found the most beautiful bridge for me to put on. So, um, she has helped me out whenever I need her to.
[00:46:16] Yeah. And,
[00:46:17] um, yeah, who knows where it will go from there, but she's really
[00:46:23] busy up in, up in Sydney. She teaches a lot of music as well and, um, got her own thing as well. So
[00:46:31] we haven't done.
[00:46:35] Yeah.
[00:46:36] Host: And yeah, I'm just jumping around here in random spots. Who's just like little curiosities I've had. Um, I guess another one was beside your, of, you mentioned having a lot of jams when you were younger growing up. And I know I've seen kind of, I've seen kind of you post photos at different times around, uh, the like spaces that you've held.
[00:46:58] Is that like, is that a similar environment? Is that a different kind of thing that you do on that side of things with healing music? Or is it more of a jam when people get together and sing or, you know, you mentioned these, uh, collective mantra sessions, like, does that all tie in, in some way?
[00:47:17] Guest: So, um,
[00:47:18] that they're all a little bit different from each other.
[00:47:21] And, um,
[00:47:23] this is
[00:47:23] one thing that I find. On my own musical journey is that, um, I have actually do have done a lot of different things. Um, I guess like the jamming that I, I did a lot when I was younger, was around parties and things like that. I'd get the float out and in jam with people or, um, you'd find yourself three or four people that you just naturally connect with musically.
[00:47:48] And it's a little bit like friendships, you know, like you either click with people or, you know, And, um, so when you find a good bunch of people to jam with, it's great,
[00:47:59] you know, I can go
[00:47:59] for years and then something changes and then that's, that's the end of that. Um, so, um, I don't do I not, I wouldn't consider myself a great musician.
[00:48:12] Technically there's some people that consider them with anybody in James, anybody, but I'm fairly, I feel fairly limited in what I can and can't do. So, um, I,
[00:48:26] yeah, just, I've
[00:48:26] got to be, um, light jazz. If, if there was a
[00:48:30] jazz, jazz
[00:48:31] musicians, if they were getting together, there's no way that I'd even. Even go anywhere near
[00:48:37] it.
[00:48:37] I'd rather just
[00:48:37] be in the audience because they are so cool. They're so far ahead of where I am technically that I wouldn't be able to keep up.
[00:48:46] Host: It's like almost a different space with a different background, a different style in
[00:48:50] Guest: itself. Yeah. It's a different space and it's coming from a different place as well.
[00:48:57] Yeah. And so. I've been doing a lot of work with my husband, actually, like he plays the didgeridoo and gone, and we've been doing a lot of sound journey, sound journey together. So we've been traveling up and down these coasts quite a bit, doing giving sound journeys. Um, and that is a constant source of improvisation and jamming because we allow the energy of whatever's happening to come through.
[00:49:26] So in fact, our kind of process is. Try and still our mind and start, start playing and see what comes in.
[00:49:37] Yeah.
[00:49:37] Host: This really interests me. This is like, this is kind of the area that I'm really into as well, because it's like, you're working with what's emerging in that moment to moment. You're working with the impermanence of things and how things are constantly in flux.
[00:49:49] And your, I dunno, it sounds like you're kind of matching that vibe and being spontaneous with what comes out through you.
[00:49:56] Guest: Yup. Yup. And so, um, A space that I'm interested in keeping on going with too, because I love fat. You know, there's just nothing more,
[00:50:07] um, hold on, let me just, um, there's just nothing more
[00:50:12] exciting than just seeing what happens.
[00:50:16] And great things can come out. You know, you can, it can just be something that you just feel like you're completely in a flow. Um, and it's a meditation. It's, it's, again, it's a meditation of not allowing your mind to come to get in the way. So allowing that kind of, whatever music wants to come up through you to channel through you.
[00:50:38] Um, and so I really loved doing our sand journeys because that's a space that, that we, uh, And there's something about having people in the room that makes it, it feels like there's definitely an energetic exchange between us and people that are on the sound journey. Um, because we always have really deep sound journeys when we've got people there.
[00:51:00] Whereas when we're doing it on our own, sometimes it can be, but sometimes it almost needs that
[00:51:07] the people there to be facilitating, what, what needs to come through.
[00:51:12] Host: Yeah. I, I, I can really relate to a lot of what you're, what you're speaking about. I think it's a beautiful thing and yeah, I just, I don't know for me sometimes I feel, I dunno, maybe it's, it's obviously like a self projecting.
[00:51:26] Occurrence, but it seems like sometimes I dunno, like I, I do want to work on the other side of things like, um, the skill sets, but I just feel naturally a lot of the time I'm, it's not, it's not where I'm naturally drawn to. If that makes sense. Although I feel like it, it can help kind of all, all boats rise.
[00:51:48] Guest: Yeah, look, it's, it's a great point
[00:51:51] that you bring up, um, because it's something that I've grappled with for a long time as well, because you know,
[00:52:00] I also
[00:52:01] grappled with God, you know, you should go and do your,
[00:52:04] you know, your, your,
[00:52:06] your theory and your scales and get yourself technically a little bit better.
[00:52:10] But I also don't want to interfere with the process of what my soul is wanting to explore. And this moment without, without it being learned, you know, learned like that. Basically, I don't want to take on other people's rules and regulations. So, you know, if I, if I'm sitting around a campfire and people say, Hey, singer cover song.
[00:52:36] The chances of me being able to sing more than three or four cover songs is. It's not going to happen because I haven't wanted to take on other people's truths. I've just wanted to explore what my own art. So I'm the same as you, in terms of just going, I'm just going to do the music that flows in that feels
[00:52:53] naturally good to me.
[00:52:55] Host: That's a comforting, comforting thoughts. I appreciate that. Yeah. Okay. So this is all been amazing. I think we've kind of covered pretty much everything that I wanted to, I guess. Yeah. Like just in a natural way, which has been really nice. Um, so yeah, I don't really know where else to go with this. I feel like, I think.
[00:53:21] I think we're pretty much done. Yeah. It feels like long. It's been 37 minutes. I, yeah, I don't know. I feel as though I'm still very curious, but yeah. Some questions might be worth kind of letting them marinade and like kind of, yeah. I don't know, deepening that at some other point, if you're open to it. Um,
[00:53:43] Guest: oh
[00:53:43] yeah, absolutely.
[00:53:45] Um, thank you so much. For asking me to come along and, and speak. It's been lovely speaking to you. And I didn't
[00:53:53] know that you played music as well.
[00:53:57] Host: Thank you for tuning into this episode of the today. Dream a podcast. Hopefully you've found something within it that will allow you to deepen your practice of presence. And cultivate that within your own life. As always, if you'd like more information on the guests or their work, please head over to the daydreamer website today, dream.com or check out the show notes or the description section, wherever you're engaging with this.
[00:54:26] And there'll be some links to that. Wonderful and inspiring work that. If you'd like to deepen your connection with me with the show, by showing your support and helping me keep this project, this intention alive, then please consider joining the today. Dream a tribe by heading over to patrion.com forward slash today.
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[00:55:21] Thank you so much. That's all for me.