I am a song.

Top 5 and 10 and 100 lists are common at the end and beginning of a year. Everybody wants to talk about the best books, best moments, best songs of the previous year or, in some cases, of all time. And inevitably there are battles. Especially when it comes to music. Aretha vs. Patti. Old School Hip Hop vs. Whatever they call that stuff today. Prince vs. Michael Jackson (Prince. Fight me!)

But at the end of the day, it’s really about preference. Everybody has an opinion. Everyone has a particular genre of music or type of song that resonates with them.

As I was thinking about this, I thought about my own identity. For so long, I’ve wanted to be liked. I wanted to be loved. By everyone. All the time. I would contort myself and my work to fit whatever the person in front of me wanted. And at the end of the day, I realized that I’m very much like a song. I am a unique melody created by the master Songwriter.

And so are you.

Yes, there are billions of songs in the world. All different.

Different beats.
Different genres.

Some make you sway.
Others make you sigh.
Some make you dance.
Others make you cry.

All songs have purpose. One that the songwriter had in mind when he or she or they wrote it.

But here’s the thing: every song does not sound good to every ear.

*shrug* People like what they like.

And while people will often debate whether a song is “good” or “bad,” at the end of the day, the measure of a song is not determined by how it’s perceived. These often arbitrary designations of worth have everything to do with the listener and nothing to do with the song itself.

The song just is.

As you are.

You are the Creator’s song to the world.
You were written into the earth.

Your job is just to be. To say what the Songwriter created you to say.

Trust…

Someone will be moved by your lyrics, your melody.
Someone, several someones, will feel your beat.

Someone…but not everyone.

And that’s OK.

Soar,
TMLG