There are 3 main definitions of funk:
- A foul smell or odor,
- A type of music that combines elements of rhythm and blues with soul, percussive vocals, strong bass and heavy down-beats,
- A state of great fear, panic or fluster. A depressed, sad or sorry state of mind.
I'm going to be discussing the latter form of funk.
Funky Town
Any musician would give their eye teeth (what a strange old saying) to get a good dose of the funk — the kind that separates the wheat from the chaff in the music industry. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are doused with the funk and have had a long and lucrative career because of its incredible mass appeal.
However, when life throws us a curve ball and we get stuck in the quagmire of that smelly, crappy kind of funk — that just ‘aint worth singing about.
Thing is we all have a choice.
Bad Taste in Your Mouth? Suck on a Mint
We all have our moment in the sun…and in the shade. When the cloud of despair rains down, there's no judgment in having a pity party. For a while that is (some people's ‘while' lasts a bit longer than others. In fact, some folks' ‘while' turns into ‘wile' and they try to pull others down into their stratagem 'cause they don't want to shovel out. Misery enjoys company, don't you know?).
Problem is, many people get stuck at the Mad Hatters Time (and Tea) Guzzling Pity Party for a lifetime not realizing that at any time one can get their Alice on and leave the table to join the path of great adventure again.
Funk, Flunk or Flank
Getting stuck in a funk has its ups too, you know. Nothing happens to you without good reason (here's where I get pelted with tomatoes 'cause I know everyone loves a cliché). Read more here: Plot Twist! 3 Things You Desperately Need to Know About Game Changes
If you're brave enough to mine your downs, you're going to shovel out of the funk ditch without flunking out on life. Even if you flank out of it by fringing around the border of the funk, you'll make it through to the other side.
Seeing that this article is heading more for a play on words than any philosophical feat (and I'm not to sure where it's going), let me end on this:
At any given point (you're never too old, too late, too weary, too ‘far gone' or whatever other excuse you can conjure up), you can make another choice and completely change direction in your life. Don't let your circumstances define who you are — only let your choices do that.
Related article: Comfort Zones: The Beauty of Awkward and Uncomfortable
Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.
To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.
Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She also has just recently launched her official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates).
Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.
This article (How Long Are You Going to Stay Stuck in the Funk?) was originally written for and published by Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.