Do you know where you’re going to …

Do you know where you’re going to?

Do you like the things that life is showing you?

Where are you going to?

Do you know?

Meaningful lyrics from the song by Diana Ross and the theme song to the 1975 movie Mahogany. 

I have never seen the film (or at least I don’t remember seeing the film!), but I know the song very well. The words are evocative, bringing strong memories to mind and powerful feelings.

Listening to this song, thinking of my younger self and who I am today, I could choose to be troubled by the sentiments in the lyrics, allowing myself to be seduced by melancholy and nostalgia or I could choose to let the lyrics to wash over me and move on to the next song.

But I choose instead to be inspired by the lyrics, to explore my feelings, to dive into the deep waters of my past, my present and what my future may hold.

Life is short and we only have one.

A cliché but a universal truth.

So think about it. Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to? Do you know? Do you get what you’re hoping for?
When you look behind you there’s no open door. What are you hoping for, do you know?

This song poses questions of humanity which we all ask ourselves. But in essence it’s a song about regret.

Regret. A big theme.

Artists, writers, music makers, all creatives who are brave enough to explore big themes grow in their work.

As a writer, I draw inspiration for my writing in many different ways. Music has the ability to move us, stimulating our memories and our imaginations. When I listen to a song, when the mood is right, when I am open and reflective, I can tap into and channel my emotions and the energy is stirred into inspiration for my writing.

How?

By considering the mood that the song sets and by focussing on that feeling – joy, sadness, triumph, love, regret, whatever it is and by writing from emotional depth, from wherever it is the song has taken me.

Sometimes the lyrics will tell a story, or perhaps the song shines a light on a portrait of a character, or the lyrics may take me back to a time in my past. I can then mine that memory for inspiration for a scene, I can explore the portrait of the character and flesh them out, I can ponder the story in the lyric and try and expand upon it.

I can even use the story in the lyric as a springboard for a longer piece, a different piece  or a chapter in my current book.

What type of music inspires you? Is there a song that really moves you?