How do you keep the music playing?

How do you keep the music playing?
How do you make it last?
How do you keep a song from fading too fast?

How do you lose yourself to someone
And never lose your way?
How do you not run out of new things to say?

And if we know we’re always changing,
Why should it be the same?
And tell me how, year after year,
You’re sure your heart will fall apart
Each time you hear her name.

I know the way I feel for you, it’s now or never.
The more I love, the more that I’m afraid
That in your eyes, I may not see forever, forever.

Songwriters
Michel Jean LeGrand, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman

I heard this song sung by Tony Bennett on his 90th birthday special. I sobbed. I hadn’t heard this song in many years and was somewhat taken by surprise at the immediate emotional response. It connected straight to my heart and carried a meaning far deeper than face value.

How do you keep the music playing? What makes your heart sing? Do you remember the last time it soared freely? What ignites that spark within? Are you tending to it or has it nearly gone out? What are you doing to foster the connection with that spark? What got in its way? What became more important than that which makes your heart soar? Why did you let it fade?

How do you allow yourself to be vulnerable and free with the one you share your life with? How do you allow yourself to be fully vulnerable with yourself? What would it take to accept you for who you are, regardless of how you are seen by another? What needs to happen in order to rewrite the old stories of what was and allow for what could be? How do you live your life in alignment with what truly speaks to you? How is your job or daily activity steering you away from who you really are? How do you keep the joy of connection in your daily life? What would it take to risk sharing your inner thoughts and dreams with your spouse/partner…or yourself?

How do you embrace change and allow it to unfold before you instead of trying to control it? What would it look like to surrender to the flow of the moment? How would that be different than how you currently live each day? In light of things moving and changing, how do you stay connected with yourself? With your spouse/partner? With Spirit? What will it take to keep your heart open and soft in the midst of change? Will you accept growth and change or resist it and harden due to fear? Will you give yourself permission to fall in love with yourself all over each day? What about falling in love with your partner/spouse? What about falling in love with Spirit? What about falling in love with the very thing that makes your heart soar? Will you allow yourself to melt in the presence of your beloved?

In my opinion, you could easily stop the last stanza at “the more I love, the more that I’m afraid”. It’s the most profound gift we can give, yet the one that scares us the most. It’s easier to say that we love someone than to actually allow ourselves to feel love…both for and from another person. As we embrace a new year, maybe the one resolution we could all make is to allow ourselves to FEEL love in a manner of giving and receiving. Take it one day at a time.

Just for today, I choose to FEEL love.

Blessings of LOVE, joy and peace to you and yours in 2017.