When music comes on I can't help but allow it to completely consume my soul. Eyes closed, head bobbing, hands drumming along. It doesn't matter if it's my favorite artist or something brand new. Music saves my life - every day.
I constantly hear things like, "Do you know every song ever?!" It takes me about two times of hearing a tune to know 75% of the lyrics. If I hear a song I like, I typically track down the artist and stream everything by them. I fall in love with the sound, I fall in love with the words, I fall in love with the message.
I've been laughed at in traffic for singing at the top of my lungs, for dancing in my car, for letting the music completely rule me (both by which should be illegal - I'm horrible, nonetheless expression is expression). I've been at concerts where I stand with my eyes closed, tears streaming down my cheeks in a complete state of bliss. I've head banged so hard I've slipped a disc in my neck. I can't control the effect. Music rips the emotion out of me.
I recently saw a band I've been a fan of since middle school, I stood in the crowd with my hair standing on end I could hear the hundreds of voices around me screaming along. These are my people. Somewhere along the way, we've all been touched. I had the ability to close my eyes, imagine 8th grade me sitting in my room singing along to the same tune, and when I removed myself from that nostalgic moment I let it sink in of the thousands of people saved by this song.
Music has the ability to take you to another space in time. It puts words to emotions you didn't know you felt. It perfectly explains a situation you felt alone in facing. It provides an opportunity to connect, to express.
If you're like me, expressing can be difficult. I can't sing, I can't play any instruments, and coming from a musically inclined family, I gravitated towards listening and feeling deeply to other's creations and truly appreciating them. There is a song out there heartfully written and felt by someone who feels the same as you.
So if you see me listening to music and I'm not bobbing along in one way or another, check my pulse.
Check out a playlist I hand picked for those days you need some good vibes in your life. Sing along, I am!