The accolades and lopsided rewards for the ultra-successful overshadow many millions of arguably equally talented and hard-working musicians that lead relatively Spartan lives in comparison. The stereotype of the “starving artist” certainly applies to journeyman musicians as it does to any other creative profession. There are songs out there as beautiful and uplifting as anything the Beatles or Mozart ever created, yet may never have a bigger audience than a few hundred people. What is the karmic “reward” for such music, that suffers only from lack of exposure?

We would say that the true test of divine alignment is being true to oneself, your true nature, being the best you can be, honoring your inner needs to have an outlet for expression, and if that is drawing you to the arts, to do what you can to put that into motion and explore your craft, to hone your skill and see what develops—that is all anyone can ask of you. No one can demand someone be a great artist. It will only happen if the individual has talent commensurate with that outcome and works avidly to bring out that innate ability through much trial and error, with endless patience and great devotion for it to develop and flourish at the highest levels of expression the inner talent will allow. So while the arts and their expression and the ability to do so are divine attributes and a soul characteristic that varies from individual to individual, as some are more artistic than others in their leanings and interests, such a life and accomplishments of note is not a circumstance simply handed to you because you are worthy and have the right stuff, so to speak, it must be discovered within and allowed to be expressed even if it is a strong imperative of the soul to have that happen and, in fact, planned in the light before incarnation happens for you to engage in an artistic pursuit. Many things can get in the way and there are many dark forces that would constrain such undertakings and limit you. The fact it is a large-scale enterprise done by many, while only a few reach the high levels of the commercially rewarded artist, is a testament to the divine origin of all human beings. You have within you the capability to appreciate art and music, whether you have the inner drive to participate in a hands-on way or not, so there will be many who never rise to the level of commercial success and will never make a living as a musician, but that is not to say they are failures. After all, they are expressing divinity and that is never wasted, it will raise up the self if not in a setting where it touches the lives of others. That is still worth doing and, as an outlet of expressing what is within, will benefit the musician significantly, as it is communing with the divine in a special way, because we speak the same language and will share the experience, and will give a pat on the back, always, to the musician for whatever their performance brings, regardless of what a human critic might say about it. People vary tremendously with regard to all talents, soul characteristics that are on display, and their potential at the start of each lifetime. So it is inevitable that not all can be on the same level and especially because there are billions of people, most of whom will respond to music, there will be a wide spectrum of talents and interests. Some will never touch a musical instrument because the interest is not there; some will be discouraged from pursuing it because their early exposure convinces them it is simply too much work; it is those who truly have a spark within because it is in alignment with their path who will engage with the idea and pursue it avidly lifelong, regardless of how far they take it and how great or little the personal reward turns out to be. After all, a musician is at once an audience, and soothing and serving the self is a worthwhile goal that contributes to personal happiness and is not an indulgence.