Since hearing the song “Simple Man” for the first time last month, I’ve encountered it several times in really interesting ways. Not only have I gravitated toward this song willingly on Spotify, but it just keeps following me around in my every day life, and lately I’ve been waking up with it in my head. There are moments at work when it’s stuck in my head, and I get this feeling that I MUST listen to it. I finally looked up the lyrics, and I can’t help but feel this is a call from my soul and my guides to follow my heart and listen to my feelings.

I have this thing that I do with my feelings, I shove them down to a place where nobody can see them, including myself. It’s just easier this way, and I feel like a rational stable, human being in that moment. However, what happens when I do that, is all this emotional murkiness and confusion, and when they try to surface again, I’m not sure what they are, where they came from, or why. It makes me feel crazy.

So after listening to this song for probably 757 times in the last week,I started studying the lyrics and examining the points in this song where I have strong reactions, whether emotional, or in the form of goosebumps, or aha’s.
Let me point them out for you:

Mama told me, when I was young
“Said sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely, to what I say
And if you do this, it will help you some sunny day” Oh yeah

“Oh take your time, don’t live too fast
Troubles will come, and they will pass
You’ll find a woman, and you’ll find love
And don’t forget that, there is someone up above”

“And be a simple kind of man
be a something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won’t you do this for me son, if you can, if you can”

“An’ forget your lust from the rich man’s gold
All that you need now, is in your soul
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied”

“And be a simple kind of man
Be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Won’t you do this for me son, if you can, if you can”

“Oh don’t you worry, you’ll find yourself
Follow your heart, and nothing else
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want from you my son, is to be satisfied”

“And be a simple kind of man
Be something you’ll love and understand
Baby be a simple, kind of man
Oh, won’t you do this for me son, if you can”

So baby, be a simple, be a simple man
Oh won’t you do this for me son if you can

Here’s what I believe I’m getting out of this song:

• enjoy the moments that come to you
• be proud of yourself and do the things you love
• let go of attachment to monetary wealth
• following your heart will lead you to success
• don’t work for the paycheck, work for the personal fulfillment
• stop trying to force things, it’s only making you miserable
• your soul knows what it’s doing

Here’s the thing… I’m not entirely sure I’ve ever known what that means to follow my heart. I’ve had some practice with this in my life in the past year, accompanied by major changes and challenges, all for the better in the end. But I’m still unsure how to figure out what else my heart wants. How do you know if it’s from your heart, head, or something else?