What is Life Without Music?
I really don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have music in my life.
There was always something about the rhythm of it all that really pulled me in when I was in 5th grade or so. My 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Merrell, was a music prodigy in my eyes. As far as I knew, she played 50+ instruments. She actually encouraged me to get involved with the violin, and play in the school orchestra. I played the violin from 5th grade to 8th grade. At this point, the violin started to sound super annoying to me. So I decided to move on to the cello - and continued to play cello until 10th grade.
If I wasn’t surrounded by music during orchestra practice/class, I still had colorguard and marching band right around the corner (if you don’t know what colorguard is, I highly encourage you do a quick Youtube search on the subject). Anyhow, music followed me out of my high school days and into my college years. When I had to focus and study, music was there. When I was feeling an emotion that my words couldn’t express, music was there. Anywhere I was…music was there. It’s just a matter of fact that I cannot live my life without music.
Not only is music helpful for the listener, it’s amazingly helpful for the writer. You may have heard a song or two where the lyrics mean more than they say. There might be pain behind the lyrics, or romance that actions can’t really capture. Even if the song has no words, the notes from the instruments can convey anything that the listener perceives.
Do you see where I am coming from, when I say that music is amazing? Music can capture time periods, emotions, memories, triumphs, failures, losses and disasters. AND…it can help within the individual. That’s right - I’m talking about your brain.
Molly Warren discusses in her article, The Impact Of Music Therapy On Mental Health, how “music acts as a medium for processing emotions, trauma, and grief—but music can also be utilized as a regulating or calming agent for anxiety or for dysregulation.” There are also different intervention methods involved with music therapy, such as lyric analysis and active music listening, mentions Warren. How cool is that?
If music is not your forte, not to worry! In my experience, being in the presence of music can add an extra element to the environment. In any matter, it feels like you’re in a movie when you have your headphones on and staring out the car window. If you are not interested in music, I hope that this blog post has inspired you to get interested.
Get inspired by my Spotify playlist and click on the button below.
