January....even with its unseasonably warm temps and lack of two feet of snow covering my van...is the roughest month of the year for me. Have I said it before? I'll say it again...January is ROUGH for me.
While in the midst of major life changes and also looking for ways to meditate, I found that music is my guide. Music and nature, combined, are the most incredible ingredient of GOD that I've ever known! It explains a few things to me, such as why I asked to form a choir at the teeny Methodist church in my hometown, pop. 550, when I was twelve. Or why I spent about 1/2 of my wages as a teenager on CDs from Soul Asylum, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Metallica, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Jars of Clay, Collective Soul, the Beatles and, of course, Garth Brooks (hey, can't a girl be a little diverse, ya'll?).
So....haven't you ever wondered how that "person" could sing so well, without even trying, while in the background you were doing your best impression of the B52's "Love Shack" at a karaoke bar, nearly wetting your pants at the pitiful thought of you lipping a microphone shared by two dozen other drunks?
Or what about a beautiful morning, when you happened to wake up just shy of your coffee maker's auto setting, to which you may have, at first, been annoyed, only to find that you have unexpectedly awoken early to witness, over your lukewarm cup of coffee, a pink/gold/red/purple/blue sunrise while the birds peeped and cheeped and chirped their morning calls?
Make no mistake - my voice is crackly and I try to reach pitches in songs heard only by the neighbor's Shih Tzu while I've got my headset on and am jamming out, in my now old-school Mommy fashion, while folding various sizes of undies and sweat pants. It's no wonder the neighborhood cats frequent our porch...
So, I admit I don't have the voice. But I do have the ear. I can identify an off-note from 300 yards. While others are singing along while ceremoniously brandishing Bic lighters in honor of the artists at live concerts, I wonder to myself "Why do they sound so much better in the recording??" And I look around at the others and also wonder "Am I the only one who hears this??"
I guess it doesn't really matter. For me, music IS a soul. Because each singer or band or artist has their way of expressing their feelings thru their music. Much like me and my writing. I'm mostly unedited, due to laziness and maybe a bit of pride.
To my way of thinking, music is anything that sings to the soul. It doesn't have to be harmonious. It doesn't even have to be "music", in the literal sense of the word. A child's laugh can be music. A hamster running on a wheel. The sound of the garbage truck backing up.
If it makes your heart happy, and if it speaks to your soul, it's music, my friend.
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