I have loved music all of my life. My first memories of music are listening to the radio in my mom’s old Suburban where we took numerous trips to soccer tournaments and… well, more soccer tournaments. I can remember hearing the likes of anything from Green Day and Sublime, all the way to Hootie and the Blowfish and Sugar Ray. All the time acquiring my very diverse musical tastes and an unhealthy affinity for music.

All the time I was learning that music has an unfailing power to make people think and feel in ways that most things in daily life cannot. Some songs can bring you back to a certain point when the song was important to you. Some songs can pick you up when you’re down or help you through difficult times. Some songs, in my opinion, can even make you the person you are today.

Think back to a time when you heard a song and related it to sometime in your life, someone in your life, or possibly some random thing you’ve seen in your life. For example, I know for a fact that me and all my friends could hear "Allstar" by Smashmouth and our minds would turn directly to "Shrek." Now, if music has the power to make you remember your childhood then music has the power to change everything.

It can change your entire mindset with powerful songs like Where is the Love by the Black Eyed Peas and We are the World performed by various artists. It can change your mood from melancholy to ecstatic with a simple melody everyone knows like Don’t Stop Believing by Journey or maybe even "Hey Ya!" by Outkast. Music has the power to do wonderful things in your life if you just give it the chance.

Which leads me to my next point… People who show you new music are the most important people in your life. These wonderful people who give you the music that soundtracks your life, these are the people you want to be around. They give you the tools to change your mood, remember your childhood, or even make you really reflect on your life and where you want to be. I have many people in my life that give me these tools and new artist daily that I would never think to listen to, but then fall in love with.

Random people from different countries have given me songs that I would not have heard in a lifetime if it had not been for them. Artists like Catfish and the Bottlemen (England), 12:00 (Iceland), Sticky Fingers (Australia), Daddy Yankee (Mexico), and last but not least Michel Telo (Brazil). Think about the last time that the world can connect through something like music. I can go to anywhere in the world and connect on some level to songs and tunes that everyone knows. I have connected to more people over songs that we both grew up on and love than anything else.

This is why showing new music as well as searching for new music should be on everyone’s agenda. Start connecting with people on levels that only music can get to. I still remember the first song that was playing when I got my first kiss and I always will remember my first live performance. Make memories, friends, and love with the beautiful thing that is music and make life beat to your own soundtrack.