Beyond the Surface is a music blog inspired by this blog post – a reading I gave to an old friend who has an amazing gift of music but took a different path, some 20 years later. It was shared on Huffington Post.

We’re here to live the spiritual path in human form, and have human experiences. Which isn’t always easy. All of a sudden, it’s 20 years later, and much of life seems to have evaporated behind you.

The beauty of life is that when we make what might look like a mistake in our lives, or an unconscious choice, we can always course correct. We can be more conscious and present, and hopefully create a better new chapter.

But some people find they’re on autopilot, and perhaps they can’t get out of the path they’ve carved for themselves. That’s what connecting to our Higher Selves is about. Being more present with oneself and being brave to push through, and make the changes you feel you need to create a better, more authentic life.

Shortly after we lost Prince, I Tivo’ed a Tavis Smiley episode with him. While I can’t get myself to watch it still, I forwarded to the end the other day, to discover “Reflection,”which elicited chills in a good, other-worldy way. One that touches the soul.

Many have this gift of music, and while genius may be part of that gift, it’s really about fully connecting to one’s Higher Self. It takes the ethereal spiritual work combined with human discipline to harness it and share it with others.

Not everyone gives birth to that calling. Life gets in the way too often. We find ourselves in the “9 to 5 life,” rather than the one where we jet to Milan to perform, or unveil a new creative endeavour, and then to Tokyo the next day. Those people get to fully express the spiritual work of channeling their Higher Selves for us to see.

I just had a visit from a dear old friend, who is a sort of Prince in my own life, who I’ll refer to as “Wolfie.” Though we are strangers now, deep in the grooves of our diverse life paths, the core is still the same.

We met as kids, when all of life was laid out in front of us. Although in school, even then we weren’t on the same path – he was more AC/DC, I was Depeche Mode. The only intersecting point was sitting next to one another in orchestra. I was intimidated by what I felt was a natural musical gift that I knew I didn’t have.

I hadn’t seen it before then, but having just watched “Amadeus,” I recognized it. There are some people who are on a slightly different frequency. Like Prince was for us to collectively witness. They don’t vibe to trends or what’s going on around us. Some might call it “genius.”

Wolfie and I dated for a very brief glint of time. Sometimes we’re just meant to be given a handful of magical moments with a special soul. Life offers few encounters that feel so blissful and soulful, that when you’re in it, it feels like a scene in a movie that you don’t want to end.

No matter how many years have passed, these intense moments in time are rare and etched into memory. When we see each other now, the conversation may not be the same open-hearted exchange of ideas, thoughts and unfiltered confessions we once had, but we still feel it. We can literally feel the resonance with that special soul in our heart chakra.

These indelible moments of inexplicable magic with Wolfie all revolved around music ― meeting at the fountain outside the now SiriusXM and Fox News buildings (where we temped), for ramen and Manhattan Transfer at Radio City. A secret Veteran’s Day weekend, where he greeted me by picking me up high in the air, twirling me, in my Hippie dress, before the Bobs concert at Zellerbach, followed by my first taste of Pad Thai, and late at night standing against the Campanile looking up at the stars. It felt like we were floating on a space ship looking out into the universe.

There was the picnic at Pavarotti in Central Park, where he dreamed of how to get to a future of music (by working at the truck company that carted the equipment on that stage in front of us).

But I will always see Wolfie in my mind, sitting at the fountain at Lincoln Center, with his jeans, white short-sleeved button down shirt,and Beethoven haircut. His head rested on my shoulder, with a wide grin that reminded me of Snoopy, before the George Winstonconcert, where we’d later dance on stage during the encore of “Linus and Lucy.” And back home, in a quiet moment, playing “Thanksgiving” on piano by ear for me, because I couldn’t.

Some people come into our lives and they aren’t meant to do the daily grind with us, as humanly difficult as it might be to accept at the time. But these “soulmates” are the transcendent form of that word. They’re catalysts that touch our souls in a way that helps us elevate to another level, to be better versions of who we are. They help put us on our life paths.

Never musically gifted, I was once able to transpose a song on the piano, because he had done it so easily. In a moment of not being self-conscious, I was able to do it.

Back when long distance was expensive, we talked on the phone until sunrise, philosophizing about life, the universe, and everything (also the name of the book series he inspired me to read). And we spoke about the future. Dreaming of the infinite possibilities.

Had I known I’d meet few philosophical souls like that later, I might’ve cherished it more. In the Ethan Hawke-Julie Delpy “Before Sunrise” trilogy, Celine says, “When you’re young, you just believe there’ll be many people with whom you’ll connect with. Later in life, you realize it only happens a few times.”

Wolfie was one of the catalysts that showed me a different way to see things beyond the religious dogma I was brought up in. It was also because he formed an acapella group, that I did. Only mine sang at nursing homes and soup kitchens, and lacked his four octave range. It was only a few years ago, in an interview with Judas Priest’s Rob Halfordthat discussed his own four octave range, that I realized how special that was.

I’ve always given readings, I just didn’t know it. And 20 years ago Wolfie had come to a major fork in the road. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see the contrast of the two opposing paths.

I literally saw a “Y” – the road on the right offered what could turn into a Mozart life, where one gets to fully channel their Higher Self. The left road was the 9 to 5 life.

I had a dream at that time of what I saw down the road with him, and implored him to do something specific that could still take him on the road on the right, the one that would feed his soul, and perhaps others, by channeling his gifts. Reflecting back now, it has the feel of those “Back to the Future” movies.

He took the path of least resistance, one that appeared to be the humanly correct thing to do for him, but which would also be the harder road to embark on, and the more travelled one. I pleaded with him not to take the road to the left. He even said in our pivotal phone call then, “I should’ve seen the magic,” referring to us. But I was more concerned about taking the road to the left and what that would be like to live it, what Mozart would have been if he hadn’t taken his own road to the right.

Life offers situations that feel like we’re being kicked to the curb, when it’s really a blessing in disguise, although we may not realize it because we’re mired in it then. It’s a release valve that our Higher Self and our guides hands us.

This can come at times when we’re laid off from a job, or when someone breaks up with us, for example. We often see it on the earth plane as humiliating, because we didn’t make that choice ourselves, external reasons made it for us.

Going beyond the lower vibrational response of suffering and humiliation, there is often a transcendent choice and reply to life’s tragedies, that we can create.

Several years ago, when my old dream that I saw for Wolfie 20 years ago came true, we discussed it. I gave him a reading, but in retrospect, I could’ve reinserted myself back into my dear old friend’s life more at that point, despite the opposite grooves our journeys have been on.

I delivered his spirit guides’ messages, but I didn’t fully see then that the universe was offering Wolfie this release valve, a reset, a possible chance to get back on the road to the right. The Mozart path. Instead, he doubled down on the left road he chose 20 years ago.

But life is about learning lessons, evolving, being more present in our future choices – and – exercising free will to choose whatever path we humanly want to option. Just because I would’ve chosen the Mozart life, if I had such a gift that felt like genius, doesn’t mean others like that would need to, or want to.

Lately I’ve been doing as many mitzvahs as I can to use my own gift (a less widely accepted gift than music is) to the hilt before I cross over, and that includes readings for close friends. When I saw Wolfie this time, I gave what was only our second or third reading, and the most profound one.

His team of guides came through this time, not just one spirit guide, but a spirit team in front of me. Often when I see that, it’s to reinforce their presence, to show they’re hard at work trying to help us from the Other Side, but that we need to meet them halfway and do the spiritual work to help create our fullest potential, should we want to.