[Nevertheless] There is Music

On days when I'm feeling down, music soothes my soul.
When I feel like I'm not connecting with people, music is that connection.
On days when there is much to celebrate, music cheers with me.
When I'm on a roadtrip, my playlist is my soundtrack.
Music is a constant companion without whom life would lose luster. 

A funny thing happened on the way to Pennsylvania this past Thanksgiving week. As usual, we set out shortly after midnight, in hopes that children would sleep on the way and we'd miss daytime traffic. As usual, I made a playlist of calm music for the nighttime drive, and a  more energetic one for after the sun came up. Sleeping a good deal of the way, but still tired, my husband put on the more upbeat playlist for the last leg of our drive. He commented that the version of one of the songs I chose was faster than the original. He had difficulty believing that it was indeed the song from the original album. I suggested that maybe he was just tired, so it sounded faster. He thought that was ridiculous. A couple days later, listening to the same song, from the same playlist, he commented that this version was the correct version, not the one from the drive to PA - and was surprised it was the same music file. 

And then there was the time my husband wanted me to listen to a song - and I did and didn't like it. I was exhausted after a long day, my OCD was on overdrive, and instead of being able to listen to the words, the meaning, the music, all my brain would do was count words and rhythms and that annoyed me. When I listened to the song again the next day, I loved it. 

How music sounds and the effect music has on us depends on our mood, what we're experiencing at that time, and, apparently, how exhausted we are. Music can boost our joy or feed our sadness. It can help us express how we feel or discover feelings we didn't know we had. Music can help us communicate to others, and ourselves, what is in our heart. 

Every moment of every day there is a song stuck in my head. I hear music in my dreams. I wake up to music in my mind, and throughout the day it often changes, sometimes to songs with words that reflect how I'm feeling or messages I need to hear. 

No matter what life throws at me, music is always there to help carry me through.