Heart Chakra Summer '25
The Listening Journal 2.0
Happy Solstice! A friend and teacher of mine shared a beautiful Céline Dion song with me a few weeks ago, and I was surprised when I intially didn’t like it. I went back and forth with myself, why can’t I enjoy the song? Why am I so closed off to this right now? I felt bothered that my first reaction was to roll my eyes at a beautiful song and message.
When something activates us, it is an invitation to look closer! So I started listening to Céline Dion and her Aries energy (with venus and mercury conjunct in Pisces). It made me think about how American pop culture leans towards restraint, irony or sarcasm over honest, vulnerable and open expressions of love.
I listened to My Heart Will Go On when my family’s dog Loki transitioned into the spirit realm in the last days of May. As time progresses, my relationship with death is changing, I don’t see it as an end. I viscerally experience it as a continuation of energy and consciousness. I could feel my dog’s spirit still with us while we waited for his ashes.
Céline Dion was constantly playing on the radio to and from grade school via my 90s carpool, but I never saw any filmed or live performances. In my exploration, I found an early acoustic performance of It’s All Coming Back. Even as a kid, I didn’t explicitly hear the lyrics as about an ex-lover. I imagined she was speaking to Love itself, as if every “you” was the idea of choosing Love again after a time of a choosing to be alone and closing the door to it.
We need more love than ever right now. If we really want peace in the world, it begins with us, and in our daily relationships. I’ve heard many teachers say war is a magnification of the “us vs them” warring we do in our daily lives. We’re on the same team! Heart coherence scientifically changes the state of others around you! Group meditation can have a visceral effect on crime rates and levels of peace! This summer I want to look at my own heart so I can live from it more authentically. Vulnerability is cool. I want to listen to Céline Dion and celebrate her contributions to music.
So “Heart Chakra Summer” is the theme I picked for my copy of The Listening Journal 2.0 Summer 2025! I made a playlist of “open heart songs”, songs that are about expressing love, some romantic, but many expressing love for all people and love for all of humanity. Alarm Call by Björk made it on the list, Peace Train, Elton John, as did some Savage Garden, several 90s and 70s songs. If you know of a good song that could fit this theme and want to share, please send it to me!!
I am excited to see where I end up with my experiment in 3 months!
Who will you decide listen to?? What will your theme be??
SECOND SUMMER OF THE LISTENING JOURNAL!
I am excited for The Listening Journal 2.0 - I did some major updates to the formatting. It is a tool in self discovery and learning to listen to your intuition as much as it is a tool in ethical influence and building out your musical DNA. It can help you focus and create change in your listening habits and build new neural pathways. It features an intention setting questionnaire, weekly A/B listening, experiments, song analysis pages, and self reflection questions. We don’t learn who we are in a silo — we learn about who we are in relation to each other! We build craft through emulation, experimentation, repeated listening and developing the inner ear! $22 + free shipping, send me a DM. For musicians and music lovers. To-Be-Scheduled Zoom meet up for community music sharing! Come hang out! More information to come!
