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Have you ever felt nudged to do something? 

I mean almost literally pushed to do something? 

It’s not the “gut” instinct experience although I am grateful for that intuitive knowing that guides me in making decisions. 

I’m talking about when there’s almost an invisible friend who says go for it and you find yourself approaching someone, entering a store or taking a turn in the road you had no intention of taking.

I believe that those nudges I’ve received have come from my soul . . . that part of me that exists beyond time and space and guides a deeper purpose for my life.

I felt nudged several years ago to go to a small spiritualist church. It had been suggested to me by three different people and so after the third message, I listened and stepped up to the doorway one Sunday and was greeted by a friendly soul. He gave me a program and one announcement caught my attention. “If you know of anyone who could play the organ for the month of August let us know.” I don’t know what possessed me to ask about this, but I asked if they had found someone and he said no. He then asked me if I play the organ and out of my mouth came the words “YES” which was not true. I couldn’t believe I said that---it was like my invisible soul friend spoke for me! He grinned and said “come on down, you can play today as church doesn’t start for another five minutes.” It was one of those surreal moments where you are actually watching yourself. I didn’t know how to even turn on an organ let alone play it. I hadn’t “read” music for years and yet here I was in front of a small congregation of people smiling with anticipation of my arrival. (I would come to learn that the minister had been leading the singing without the organ and it hadn’t gone so well in weeks past.) Fast forward, the organist ended up having a heart attack and didn’t return so I became the organist and eventually the music director all because of a nudge from my soul to step across the doorway. 

That doorway, reopened my heart to music and to this magical experience of creation. I began having songs in my dreams and waking up to the line of a tune. It also became a real joy when the minister would say “Carol, would you play something while we pass the plate, or do communion?” and I’d just make something up in the moment that came from my heart. The nudge of my soul helped me to reclaim a lost part of me and  to recognize my heart’s desire which is to experience sound and to share it with others.

Several months later, I decided at the last minute to attend what I thought was an energy healing workshop. Upon arrival, I found out that it was actually a gathering of healers who took turns offering their gifts of healing and then receiving gifts of healing from others. I wasn’t a healer and came as a bystander. But in another moment of divine nudging, a voice said ”go ahead, sign up.” I signed up to offer a Reiki session. I couldn’t help but notice the grand piano in the entryway and so I asked if I could play that as my offering. I ended up working with two people, providing an initial Reiki session and then I played the piano and had the profound gift of being present with what I would say was their divine essence or soul. Each person expressed deep appreciation for the experience and yet I felt like I was the one who was blessed by this experience.

It has been a slow journey over the last eight years to get here to this place of officially birthing Soul Songs and Soul Key Journeys. I feel like my soul is saying “Finally, finally. . . you are coming home to your journey!” 

After arriving at the name for this experience a few weeks ago, I took a closer look at the gift my minister had given me when I left Indianapolis. It is a music box of sorts honoring Sainte Cecelia, the patroness of musicians. It sits on my piano. There is written music in the box “the spirit of God shall rest on him”, a butterfly, and a picture of Sainte Cecelia and the musical words “andante con moto” which tells the musician to play a piece “at a walking pace with movement.” What surprised me when I looked more closely at the box . . . . was seeing for the first time a key leaning up along the side the box. . . . a key that looks very similar to the one my friend and I created for my logo. What a surprise to see and what a confirmation for taking this step. 

I have been at a very slow “walking pace with movement” for Soul Songs. I am grateful for the nudges and patience of my soul on this journey and for helping me cultivate the courage to share this experience of Soul Songs with others. Sound has been my companion along with my soul, and I trust that the Soul Key Journeys experience will help others unlock the loving presence that they are and help them to grow in their relationship with their invisible friend---their soul.