Some Songs Come to Break You Open

And some songs come to remind you why

There are moments when life feels like it’s talking directly to you — not with words, but with a song. A tune starts, a lyric floats through the air and lands exactly where it hurts… or heals. That’s when I know: the veil between the worlds is thin again.

And maybe it was always thin. But every time this song comes back on, that veil opens again, and I break all over again. I wait for the message that comes with it...or through it...

I’ve been thinking about the person whose memory the song evokes. This memory is what shapes not only us but also the song itself. Sometimes the memories are loving and gentle and sometimes the memories arrive like a storm. The ones we often call “difficult,” or just too much and that left scars. They also left me stronger.

It took me years to understand that some of those relationships weren’t mistakes. They were soul assignments...agreements. The ones who came in to teach me what my boundaries were by crossing them. It wasn't their fault I took so long to catch on. The ones who didn’t know how to love gently somehow catalyzed the fiercest growth.

I used to think I was drawn to the wrong people. Now I know I was drawn to the right lessons. Hard ones, yes. But real.

From my upcoming book: The Veil Between the Worlds , by Patty Hall