Ep:1 - Echoes of Self-Discovery: How 'Mirror' Guided My Path to Healing and Self-Love Through Music #musingswithrae
Description
Could the harmonies of a single song be the key to unlocking self-love and acceptance within you? That's the revelation I experienced through Lalah Hathaway's "Mirror," a musical masterpiece that kickstarted my journey to inner peace.
Join me as I recount the cathartic moment at a live concert in Atlanta, where the lyrics reached deep into my soul, urging me on a path of self-discovery. This episode isn't just about my story; it's an invitation to explore the healing power of music and how it may offer you the same solace and encouragement it gave me.
This is more than a conversation; it's an interactive exploration of how self-love can revolutionize our lives. From the importance of mirror work to the ripple effects of self-affection on our relationships, I share the profound changes that occurred when I embraced who I truly am. Discover how music can act as a catalyst in this transformation, and consider the messages that lie within the songs you hold dear.
As we share our experiences and the music that moves us, we build a community of growth and support—each of us on our unique path to healing, with music as our guide. Let's celebrate the power of music together, and may you find your message within the melodies that move us all.
Check out Mirror by Lalah H. right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiT9lbw8rY4
Your journey matters and your voice will always be heard here, so be sure to share your thoughts, questions, and reflections with me on my interwebs.
Thank you for joining me for another episode as we cross this bridge together!
So much Love, Rae
TRANSCRIPT:
00:15 - Rachel "Rae" Mindy (Host)
okay to the Wednesday edition. And addition to the Crossing Bridges with Rae podcast. Music Musings with Rae. So the song that I will be riffing and or ranting about today is Mirror by Lalah Hathaway. The song has so much meaning for me and has touched my soul since 2016. And I think what I'm going to do is tell you a story. I've told this story somewhere before, but this is the perfect place to share this story.
In 2016, I think I heard a couple of songs from this album and I was really excited to hear that Lalah Hathaway was coming to Atlanta. I believe I saw her, and don't get me to lie in, I'm sorry, I can't remember the names of the place, I digress, but it was a smaller venue. I love live music, I love music period, but I love, love, love live music, so we had great seats. I went with my significant other at the time, and so, first and foremost, in 2016, I was in the process of coming out of something that some would call a mental breakdown, maybe a year or so before, and I was very, very, very much disconnected from everything that I love, everything that I used to do, places that I used to go Like. I just was very, very disconnected. And so to music, I was very disconnected as well, and I had kind of come out of like a shell kind of. And so when I heard these songs on the radio as I was going to work, I was like, oh, I would love to see her. Because I had never seen Lalh Hathaway before, I had never had one of her albums before, I hadn't even bought it. But I love music and I really love people that can really and truly sing, and so when I heard that she was coming to Atlanta, I was excited, bought tickets, we're going. Ok, we're there. So I'm jamming to the music. Like live music just does something for people that really like it. It's almost like you don't even really have to know the song, the instruments, the singers, whatever is going on in the venue is just a vibe. So I'm listening to the songs, I'm jamming, we're having a great time, everything. And then the music comes on Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. I don't even know if I did that good or not, but anyway, please forgive me and the lights kind of sort of go down and she starts singing.
Bitter hearts don't hold a smile. Trouble minds will wear you down. Use your past to get it in. Hold your tears and think. Instead, you have to find a way to make it. These clouds are letting up for a while. Oh, so those words alone. Those are just the first lyrics of the song. Right, I'm done. I'm done for it.
I'm sitting next to my significant other and I am literally bawling as the song goes on. I mean I can go on and on with the lyrics, but as the song goes on, I mean from the deepest part of my insides, I'm letting out this just strongest cry, but at the same time trying to camouflage myself from him so he can't see that I'm literally having a breakdown. And I'm not really having a breakdown. I just feel each and every word of that song. Just think about that.
Bitter hearts don't hold a smile.
Trouble minds will wear you down.
That was me.
That was me.
Use your past to get ahead.
Hold your tears and think instead.
You have to find a way to make it.
These clouds are letting up for a while.
Sometimes you have to make the mirror your best friend. Maybe then you'll find some peace within. Stop hiding yourself. Stop hiding yourself. Love yourself when no one else can. Can I tell you that those words like I can't even describe it. Even now, those words hit me like a ton of bricks.
That's exactly how I felt, that's exactly what I have been saying to myself, and that song just pushed me into a totally different fire, for not just for God, but for understanding of myself, for loving myself, for just, yeah, it was just it for me. And so, you know, I did have a significant other and at the time, like I said, I was coming out of just a really deep funk. But I also was not happy, and I wasn't necessarily not happy with that with my significant other. I was unhappy with myself, and so therefore, I wasn't necessarily always happy in that relationship either. And I really just want to share this, because one music can be so healing. Two, music can really really like really speak to you in some of the deepest ways, and for me, that song was literally the catalyst to push me further and further, like to do whatever work that I needed to do so I could get to a place where I could find peace within and that I could stop hiding myself and love myself.
And I just really want to share this with you, because I know that anyone that is listening to any of my recordings, any of my messages or whatever, we go together, like we have something, we have a connection. So I'm not talking to everybody, right, but I am talking to somebody, and so I hadn't heard this song in a long time and it came up on my feed, on my Facebook feed and now sorry, not Facebook, excuse me on my YouTube feed, and I clicked on the video and I listened to the song and one of the first things that I noticed was how it affected me, but it didn't affect me the way that it used to affect me. In other words, it did not make me feel sad and I know that I've done the work. You know what I mean. Like, I think that at times and this is if you're a music person or if you're a music buff but at times when you listen to a song, a song can bring up all kinds of different emotions and feelings and stuff, and one of the ways that I'm always able to tell how I have moved through whatever process or whatever feelings it is that I have, is whether or not I can go back to that instance or that song or whatever and listen to it and feel like stronger or feel good about myself or whatever the case may be. And when I listen to that song, I just first of all let me just say this Lalah Hathaway's voice is like none other. It is amazing, it's extraordinary. Hearing her live was just like the best thing ever.
But that song, when it came on the other day, I was just like, oh, I love this song so much, but oh, I feel so much better about this song. You know what I mean. Like you made it over this hump of maybe not feeling good about yourself because that song was really specifically speaking to you and how you felt at the time. And when I heard it the other day, I just was so much more proud of myself for the work that I have done. The song still does brings here some of my sometimes, but nothing, nothing like when I was in that venue and sitting to my sitting next to my significant other literally balling. I don't know if he ever noticed me. I don't think that he did. And if he did, he didn't say anything. That's a whole other story for another day.
So I wanted to tell that story, because I really do want to go through the lyrics of this song, because I really want whoever is listening to me to understand that if you are in this place, you don't always have to be here. You don't always have to be here, but it is good to have enough self awareness t
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