The Beauty of Music

I love music. I try not to limit myself to one genre and will listen to pretty much anything as long as it sounds good to me regardless of what “box” the song fits into and I could care less what anyone thinks about the songs I like. My oldest son, who is extremely passionate and opinionated about music, tells me he is not a fan of a lot of what I gravitate towards. As I sit here and write this Alexa is being difficult and isn’t playing the songs I am asking her to. Apparently, she doesn’t like my tastes either.

I like to use music to predict how my day is going to be. I’ll turn the radio on in the car first thing in the morning (I work from home but still go out to get coffee every day) and the first song I hear lets me know what to expect from that day. If it’s a song I like, it will be a good day. If it’s a song I love, it will be a great day. If it’s a song I hate…well there’s always tomorrow.

When my kids and I go on long car rides we play the music “game”; each of us takes turns picking a song to play and no one else can veto, no matter what. My oldest usually picks something by John Mayer, my middle, theme songs from anime cartoons, my youngest, video game theme songs. It is one of my favorite ways to spend time with my kids, engaged and present in the moment without distractions (well except driving).

What I listen to at any given moment is very much dependent on my mood, although I do have a tendency to gravitate towards songs about heartache and love, both lost and found. I went through a heavy emotional time recently and my music selections were so depressing that I forced myself to create a playlist on Alexa called “Happy Fun Music”. It helped.

I have a tendency to become obsessed with a song for an intense period of time. I will play it over and over and then move on. This annoys my children to no end as they are usually stuck in the car or at home listening to these songs on repeat with me. Sometimes my obsession will last a few days, sometimes weeks and sometimes even months. My most recent obsessions have been:

· Without You by The Kid Laroi

· Way Down we Go by Kaleo

· Freedom 90 by George Michael

· Girl Crush by Little Big Town

· Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo

· The Night we Met by Lord Huron

I love to learn about the music that inspires and speaks to others. Most of those closest to me feel as passionately about music as I do and what they are listening to at any given moment tells me a lot about how they are doing emotionally. I recently started dating someone and we have been trading favorite songs. It gives me a view of who she is outside of the things she tells me. It’s a good way to get to know her.

Music is also a very big part of what I enjoy to do socially. My absolute favorite way to spend time is to sit around with a few close friends, listen to some music, drink a few beers and just talk. At some point I will most likely start dancing badly and I could care less how I look doing it because I am having fun, letting go, and getting out of my head for just a little while.

Every day is a new opportunity to hear a song I have never heard before and fall in love with it, or to hear something that spoke to me at a different point in my life that I haven’t heard in years. Music is one of those joys in life that deserves to be appreciated and celebrated.