“Pray” by Sam Smith
5songpjct: I have so many questions about this song choice. I would love to hear what you have to say about “Pray” and why you chose it.
Vanessa: This year (2017) has been an intense year for me and a lot of us. There has been a lot of sadness and anger. I didn’t realize how much hate there was in the world and I feel a lot of sorrow and anger from that. I needed to find an outlet for this and not feel so bad all the time. I found that I wanted to reconnect with myself.
I was at my hairdresser one day and she was talking about reconnecting to your spiritual self. She told me her daily inspiration, which is a daily message from the bible, which really stuck with me.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.” Phillippians 4:6-7
My need wasn’t necessarily a need to reconnect with religion, but a desire to reconnect spiritually. I wanted to renew a connection with the universe and God. The universe will tell you what you need.
I know prayer is useful to continue your connection with God, but there was a period of time that I wasn’t interested in this. I recently found what I needed at the Self Realization Fellowship in Malibu. I am really amazed by this place. I found that incorporating meditation and that introspectiveness helped me feel closer to God and I could have an individual relationship with God and myself. The Self Realization Fellowship felt very… aligned with two things that are important to me. It combined mindfulness and meditation in getting closer to God. Mindfulness and Meditation has been part of my life for the past few years. So to find a way to channel my spirituality using those methods felt right to me, like it made sense.
5songpjct: What I like about that place is that it very welcoming to everyone. There are symbols of various religions throughout the gardens if you know where to look for them.
Vanessa: In addition to this change in administration, there were also some personal changes for me. The physical change of moving twice in one year due to the first apartment we moved into basically falling apart beneath us. There was a gas leak and all of the water pipes needed to be replaced. Someone broke into the apartment while we were home. There were holes in the walls because of all the work that ended up having to be done on it. It was basically a “money pit” situation, but it wasn’t something we owned, thank goodness.
This year I also started a new position at work, with more leadership responsibilities. There was at first a lot of self doubt, whether I was able to succeed in that position.
TOMORROW we go deeper into the calming effect of music.