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What's in a Name? Posi-music, New Thought and emPower.
Happy What's the Meaning of Your Name Day!
Today we are encouraged to take the time to look up the meanings of our names. (Mine is derived from the Laurel or Sweet Bay Tree - a symbol of honor and victory.)
Etymology has always fascinated me. Language is always growing, evolving, and people can use the same terms for different things.
So what is in a name? How do you define Posi-music, New Thought? How do you define emPower?
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Posi Music inspires, transforms, emPowers, unites, enlightens, heals and celebrates the human spirit and its many forms of spirituality. It embraces diversity, builds community, cares for the Earth, entertains possibility and raises consciousness for social justice, self-awareness, authenticity and integrity.
In a recent interview with Roger Tomhave from New Day and Dan Johnson from Soul Pajamas, I asked them each to share what Posi Music means to them.
Roger: Do you want to start, Dan?
Dan: All right. I'll tell you what it means to me personally. I'm a very optimistic person. I'm a very positive person. When I write a song and perform it or even in the process of writing it, it's really resonating in me. So I like to write messages that are inspiring to myself. If they don't inspire me, I figure they won't inspire anyone else. Repeating the song in the process of learning it -and writing it-, over and over again, it's almost like a chant or a mantra. It's almost like an affirmation. I got to a point where I don't want to be affirming the Blues and “poor me” or even the fighting, protest songs. You know, if I'm going to be putting all of these things into my consciousness, and anyone else's who might be listening, I want it to be positive.
That's a good answer, Dan. Now can Roger top that?
Roger: Well, topping Dan is not on my agenda. I just really think that I agree completely with Dan, that very personally you want to be in that kind of positive frame of mind, in turns of your own consciousness. Taking it a different direction, we also are dedicated, in the Positive Music genre, to trying to do something good with our music in the world. Like Richard Mekdeci says, “Changing the world, one song at a time.”
We also have that kind of motivation. Wanting to get Positive Music out there in the world. Our band, New Day, was started on that kind of philosophy. All of the great New Thought songwriters, the Positive Music songwriters that are out there in the world, we wanted to bring their music, the best of the best, Unity of Fairfax. All of the great folks we see every year at the conference, we take the best of the best music and bring it home. It's getting that Positive Music out there in the world.
Positive Music is music that makes you feel good. It usually has a great message without preaching, it can be spiritual but usually not religious. I think it is music that unites people and lifts them up.
For me, Posi-Music is an affirmation of the omnipresent Goodness of God. It is an unfettered exploration of spiritual principles and how they can be applied to our daily lives. It is heartfelt inspiration, life-affirming and energizing. There is nothing like it.
I like the word Posi.
It's positive, but because it is its own word, you can make up your own definition; maybe customize the definition, instead of people having their own preconceived notions. You can kind of carve it out.
For me, in my journey of music, I looked back when I found out about concept oriented marketing and decided that, wow, if you put a concept on a CD rather than your name only, then people will know what it is; even if they don't know who you are, they can relate to it.
Posi Music is music that makes people feel better in a world that sometimes is slammed with the "when it bleeds it leads" kind of messages on the news. We need a lot of encouragement wherever we can find it.
It means music that is uplifting, thoughtful, conscious. It can be something that is deeper or thoughtful or spiritual or universal. When people go out feeling better than when they came in, that's what Posi Music is to me.
I think this is a great question. The industry we work in will certainly tout the importance of theme and musical definition. As artists, most of us will say “we are unique” or “no one sounds like me” … and there is a distinct truth in that even if you are a cover band sounding like the Beatles. However, I do not believe it’s about a certain “sound”… though I know many might disagree with that statement. That’s certainly part of the picture, though I believe there is so much more… I believe “we” are so much more.
So, what’s in a name? Well, as a positive music artist, whether we define ourselves as writing Posi-music, New Thought, emPower or Humanitarian Pop (which was something I personally just got attached to when attempting to define myself and Light Euphoric), I think the point is that we as a collective have something incredible to offer the world of music. We all share something very unique and special that some artists do not … and that is “intent”. We share the commonality of music with a message. I am not sure that having a label attached to any of us makes or breakes us. However, when we create with an intent to heal… to share of our truest self… we create a magic unlike any other. As long as I create with true intention, I am not sure I really care what name or genre is attached to those of us striving to make a difference on our planet, it truly could be any of the ones mentioned above. What I do care about is the message we all stand for as positive musicians … the intent … the love … and the truth.
I think with the emergence of social neworks as the "now" trend, emPower has vast potential. As a marketing resource you can connect with your fans through blogging and event lists, as a peer network you have a community of fellow artists with a wealth of experience to draw upon and as a home for Posi-Palooza and Posi-music there is opportunity to develop the Posi-music catagory to its fullest.
Considering the positive spirit of the site, I think of Braer Rabbit singing "Everybody Needs a Laughing Place." I hope that my efforts to share an uplifting spirit make this a place where we can all find our very own Laughing Place.
It means I have a category! Great God Almighty, I have a category!
I think it's an attempt to find a place, a label, for music of higher consciousness, which is important. The more I evolve, the less I can listen to songs that celebrate victimhood. This doesn't mean sad songs, necessarily, just the ones where people ask for pain. I think it's helpful to recognize music that inspires, whatever groove it's in. We need to recognize the "better angels of our nature."
;) I think the origin of my name is obvious.