Music

I have music in my soul. I am just one of those people. I have recently been talking to my students about the power of music. We did an experiment to see if they could literally feel music enter and later leave their bodies. It was magical! I played a very upbeat song for them and told them to remain absolutely still. They had a very difficult time doing this. I pointed out to them that music has the ability to create energy. Very few things have this capasity, for example, if you are in a large croud of people who are collectively yelling, this will create energy. However, my class was remaining completely still. They were focusing their minds on being relaxed. They were not in and of themselves the source of the energy that was created. The music did it to them. Suddenly, they were filled with a need to move. They had to find a way to express the energy that filled their bodies, and their bodies became anxious when they were unable to do so. There is a great power in this. I then had them listen to the same piece of music while focusing intently on the way that the energy filled them. I had them remain still after I turned off the music, and had them pay particular attention to the way they could actually feel that same energy leave them. (If you have never done this, I urge you to try. It is pretty amazing).

I explained that music is not a force to be taken lightly. It has the power to create energy as well as take it away. It has a profound effect on our emotions. I for one, have been moved by music on countless occasions. The first time, I remember having the experience was when I was probablly four years old. I was watching a children's program where a montage of scenery was displayed to "Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber. I remember crying and not understanding why. I have always felt that music has the power to speak to us in ways that other forms of communication cannot. Victor Hugo said it best when he said, "Music expresses that which cannot be said, but upon which is impossible to be silent."

I often hear people say that they wish life was a giant musical. I believe that it is. I believe that all of the music I allow into my soul is the soundtrack to my life.