It’s 2 a.m., and you’re staring at the ceiling again. Mind pacing, heart racing, the eerie silence swallows you whole and you’re stuck. You can’t lay here any longer, and the emptiness of your lonely heart is suffocating. In moments like this one, you can’t always run away and expect it to stop. You can’t snap your fingers and fill the void that seems to expand by the minute, no matter how hard you try. There’s only one known solution to heal your internal wounds, and it starts with a song.

If music moves you the way it moves me, you’ve had an experience just like that one. You’ve felt the anxiety of loneliness and uncertainty in the middle of the night, and turned to a melody to cure the pain. When you allow the music to flow through your body and seep into your skin, it’s almost as if the life has been breathed back into your lungs, and you’re at peace again. Suddenly, you don’t feel so alone.

If music moves you the way it moves me, you’ve unleashed your anger with the bang of your speakers. There’s nothing more cathartic than fueling your tension with a loud, intense beat that shakes you to your core, which is then released with the joy of the rhythm. With a great song, you cannot possibly be mad for very long.

If music moves you the way it moves me, you cannot imagine a car ride without a jam session. Whether you’re alone belting out the embarrassing songs you neglect to tell anyone you love or are busting your best dance moves with loved ones, a car ride without music is one that is incomplete. When I’m about to go on a road trip that’s long or short, I know that great music will help me make it through every minute.

If music moves you the way it moves me, you know that the right song is key to getting pumped up. Maybe you’re getting ready to go out for the night, are about to give a presentation of some sort, or are jumping into a hot shower. In any case, an upbeat tune has the power to loosen you up and heighten your excitement for whatever might be coming your way.

If music moves you the way it moves me, you have felt liberated by a beautiful voice or the strumming of an acoustic guitar. Each note hits you in a way that ignites a flame within you, and it’s inexplicable. Sometimes, we hear a song and don’t know how we ever lived without it, and it becomes part of us. A day without music is a day without beauty, and I cannot fathom spending that much time without it.

Music is part of me, and unites the citizens of this earth with its universal language. From Woodstock in the 1960s to present day Coachella, we can all come together and find solace and community in a song. A movie has no feeling without a score, a workout has no momentum without background music, and our world has no depth without melody. No matter where I am, what I feel, or who I'm with, music will always be the answer.