Music Mondays

I've been hit by the flu-truck, again, so today has gone by swiftly by just sleeping and watching Style Like U's amazing and inspiring "What's underneath" project. These interviews have been created by a mother&daughter duo, who's heart is to celebrate all forms of beauty, changing the mainstream ideal of beauty and promoting self-acceptance. Every interviewed person strips down, physically and emotionally, to empower people worldwide to express and accept themselves. I normally tend to shy away from nudity in the media simply because it's been so horrendously exploited, turning sex and sexuality into something cheap and disreputable. I think our bodies are something beautiful and invaluable and go hand in hand with our soul and spirit. But this project did it in a way where the body was exposed to the same measure as the soul and it unveiled something very graceful and powerful at the same time.

Todays pick of music is the legendary, one and only, Marvin Gaye. On days like these I can listen to him nonstop and never get tired of his sound. I guess that's one criteria for great music in my books, it still touches even after listening to it the thousandth time. As a singer I've realised the importance of finding that own sound, that distinguishes me from everyone else. The only way to get in touch with it is really just accepting myself for who I am and embracing it flaws and all. Whether you're a singer or not, we all possess our own sound and voice. It's your own style of doing things, the flavour and scent that's manifested in everything you create. We can live our lives in these ready set moulds, copying one another and wondering why it often doesn't fit right, or accept that we are all unique and can only thrive in being exactly ourselves and nothing else. What if Marvin Gaye hadn't embraced his voice and instead, tried to imitate James Brown? Sounds crazy but that's exactly what we all seem to do a lot of times.

There's no better way to say it than in the words of Shameless Maya: "Do you, Boo!"

xxx