After a serious car accident several years ago left her with a Catastrophic Traumatic Brain Injury, Western Australian singer-songwriter Jay Wood continues to use the power of music and love to forge a new pathway intent on living life to the fullest.
Last week Jay released 'Initial Pulse', the second single that will feature on her forthcoming EP 'Respire' that's due 1 September.'Initial Pulse' is a song with a deep, personal meaning for Jay that also conveys a powerful feeling to immerse your own world in love.
"This song was the first song I painstakingly managed to write after a long time re-learning how to play my instruments post-accident," shares Jay, who hopes the track encourages others to reflect upon their own life experiences.
The title 'Initial Pulse' symbolises those first beats of the heart when encountering someone who sparks a newfound love and rejuvenates life – a fresh start filled with hope and anticipation.
"Heya crew, Jay Wood here hoping to spread some love, hope and good vibes straight from my heart to yours!
"To begin with I should tell you a lil about how/ why I became a musician. When I was 24, I was hit by a drunk driver and sustained massive head injuries, leaving me with a Catastrophic Traumatic Brain Injury.
"Losing my abilities to function, this collision changed my life in more ways than one and suddenly learning to live with disability became my sole focus. Exit career in education, enter – MUSIC!
"Music helped immensely with my recovery process, from listening to Mozart daily to help 'rewire' my neural pathways, to re-learning how to play my own instruments and write my own songs.
"Some hard-fought years later, here I am doing things doctors told me I would never be able to, with my second single 'Initial Pulse' released last Friday.
"My hope is to encourage people to strive to achieve what others may label 'impossible', because my humble little journey in life is testament to the fact you CAN.
"With love, here are the top five life lessons I've learned."
1: Live with gratitude
Life is full of difficulties; from accidentally missing your plate and dropping your slice of prized avo on the floor, to realising you are the only person in your life you can truly rely on. It's all relative.Whether it be the ability to simply breathe or getting the front park at the shops, knowing there is always someone or something beautiful you can think of to be grateful for, helps you rest assured there's always a reason to get up in the morning.
2: Jump in the ocean
Mother earth is exactly that, our mother. We human beings are roughly 60 per cent water, yet like to think we are completely separate beings to the rest of the natural world.I challenge that mentality and encourage you to throw yourself in the big blue as often as you can. Total immersion in nature and life force energy that the ocean carries – it rebalances your energetic field and reconnects your soul to source making for a reinvigorated life. (Plus its heckin' FUN!)
3: Get a dog
Self-explanatory. Haha!
Jay's dog Ripple
4: The choice is yours
No matter what happens to you in your life, as a cognitive human being we all have the ultimate privilege of choice. You can decide how good or bad your life is. The way you choose to think creates your reality. It is as simple and as complicated as a thought.This is not to say terrible things don't happen that affect us greatly, it is simply to say how you choose to deal with them and respond is all that matters. Who'd have thought we could each possess such an epic power.
5: Live with love in all of the above
Priorities are interchangeable depending on the day, yet one thing never changes. L.O.V.E. Living with love puts you in great stead to enjoy all that life has to offer you. Love – forgiveness, tolerance, respect, romantic, familial etc. – traverses all realms pervading all areas of life and is necessary to combat its antitheses.Whether it be giving or receiving with love, witnessing or being surrounded by love or simply perceiving the world with love, no matter what it may be, if you tackle life with love at the paramount you really can't go wrong. Preachy huh?! Haha! Love ya, J.
