The Story Behind "Soil"

We are all wearing a pair of glasses that we see the world through. Each pair is unique to its owner. We are born with the frames for the glasses but our experiences create the lenses. A small piece of red glass here, a little cement and glue there, a green shard in the left lens, a muddy piece of glass on the other side. I imagine something similar to a stain glass window. We are all looking at the same light, but we all see a different reality.

One of my favorite things that I learned during my undergrad in psychology is the idea of “egocentrism.” Egocentrism in psychology is the assumption that other people see, hear, feel, understand, experience the world exactly the same as the person making the assumption. It is assuming that others are wearing the same pair of glasses that we are.

This is a very normal and very easy thing to do. The brain does everything it can to conserve energy and make our lives easier. It takes a lot of mental energy to consider the world from the perspective of another. We all go through a process of learning to attempt to consider the world from the perspective of others as we grow up. But egocentrism is inevitable. It is impossible to avoid seeing the world through our pair of glasses.

That isn’t the issue though.

The issue is having the pride to say that our pair of glasses is “better” or “right.” To believe that we have things figured out and tell others that they are wrong for seeing light through their own pair of glasses or even having their own pair of glasses.

There is a passage in the Bible where Jesus talks about two different paths and the difference between them. (Matthew 7:13-14)

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

My song Soil comes out tomorrow. It's an extended metaphor to portray how ridiculous and ugly it would sound if trees communicated many of the same messages that we communicate to one another.

I wrote Soil as an encouragement to remind myself to embrace humility and choose the "narrow path." To choose to put in the mental energy to remember that God has made us all in God’s image. That we all have the opportunity to invite those around us to, in part, experience our reality. And if we get lucky, they allow us to take part in theirs.

With the simple reminder that “We don’t all have the same soil” I hope to plant seeds that grow thoughts of empathy, compassion, and understanding. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts and share new music with you all.

Peace,

-James Spaite