India.Arie's "Break the Shell"

I just had to share this song by India.Arie.  Since her latest album, SongVersation, came out back in June, I’ve been trying to find ways to share my love of its material through my blog.  There is just so much to examine on this album, and so many lessons in relation to our lives as we try to better ourselves.  All of this is told consciously through Arie's amazing voice, of course.  And since I like taking a closer look at life here, I felt like this album would provide a perfect source to do so.  

The song I’m featuring is India.Arie’s song “Break the Shell”, a powerful song about feeling and living life while in display of our vulnerabilities.  Many times we allow our past and circumstances to build walls around us, walls that keep us from breaking out into our Truth and living the life that we desire.  How often do we suffocate our Truth to maintain that veneer of personal dishonesty, or to feel connected with others while disconnected inside?  What kind of freedoms do when gain when we break down our walls and allow the world to see us fly?  Listen to the performance, read the lyrics, and decide.

"Break the Shell"

I met a prophet dark as the night

She could see into my soul

Said she'd been watching and had some advice

She said shadows make you whole

A Life without pain is a wolf in sheep's clothes

'Cause if you listen to the lessons that it holds, you'll

find the gold

Child it's time to break the shell

Life's gonna hurt but it's meant to be felt

You cannot touch the sky from inside yourself

You cannot fly, until you break the shell

I can remember when I was a child

How the grown folks seemed so crazy

Why are they so angry?  Why are they so loud?

And when I grow up that's never, ever gonna be me

That was the moment that I decide

That I would build a wall just shy of 6 feet tall, too

strong to fall

Child it's time to break the shell

Life's gonna hurt but it's meant to be felt

You cannot touch the sky from inside yourself

You cannot fly, until you break the shell

Courage is not being hard

It's time to peel back all the layers

You put between who you're meant to be

And who you are

And go be who you are

So much disappointment to finally understand

That there is no such thing as perfect

We're all simply doing the best that we can

And we have the choice to live or truly be alive

This is your life

Child it's time to break the shell

Life's gonna hurt but it's meant to be felt

You cannot touch the sky from inside yourself

You cannot fly, until you break the shell

Child it's time to break the shell

Life's gonna hurt but it's meant to be felt

You cannot touch the sky from inside yourself

You cannot fly, until you break the shell

Do with these words what you will

It's time for us to be for real

You'll be stuck on the ground until

You finally break the shell