If you have ever played the "Questions" game, I'm sure you have been asked "Would you rather be blind or deaf?" In my experience, most people say that they would rather be deaf - they would want to have the ability to see over the ability to hear. I, however, am just the opposite. I would rather be blind - I would want to be able to hear more than I would want to be able to see. Of course, it's just a game, and those who are really blind or deaf usually didn't get a choice in the matter, but I still hold to my answer: I would want to be able to hear because I love music.
It seems like such a trite thing to say - I love music - but there really is no other way to describe it. I don't think I could function without music. I listen to music when I get ready in the morning. I listen to music before I go to bed. I listen to music when I am happy. I listen to music when I am sad. Music helps me calm down when I am angry or need to blow off steam. Music helps me feel love of my Heavenly Father. I listen to music when I am working-out, when I am cleaning, when I am studying, and sometimes even when I am reading. I associate specific songs or artists or genres with certain people or places or things. There are some songs that bring to mind very powerful memories or experiences - both good and bad.
The invention of the portable mp3 player was a godsend. It's like having your own personal soundtrack playing in the background, 24/7. The recording industry has no reason to fear on my account - I will gladly (and way too frequently) pay for the music I download, and I make sure I get my money's worth by listening to an album on repeat for a good solid week until I have memorized the entire thing.
Adding to my love of music is my uncanny ability (I call it a gift) to memorize music and lyrics extremely fast. I can also sing along to just about any song, even if I have never heard it before. It's kind of weird, but again, I love music and I love singing along to music even more. I actually sometimes get in trouble for singing along to music - some people find it annoying and will ask me to please be quiet (others aren't so polite). I especially love singing (at the top of my lungs) in parking lots. I don't know why, but when I get out of my car, especially when it is late at night, and I still have the song that was playing in my head, I just have to continue the song until the end. So, I belt it out. If there's an audience...oh well. I hope they enjoy the performance. But for some reason big open parking lots just make me want to break out into song.
Ironically enough, my love of music will most likely result in me going deaf before I'm 50 because I love LOUD music. I love feeling the bass and really listening to the instruments. I love the sensation of closing my eyes and imagining the music literally washing over me. It's extremely cathartic and one of my favorite de-stressing activities.
I am impressed by the ability of artists and musicians to write songs and put words together in such a way that has never been done before in order to tell a story or create an emotion or describe a scene. I love analyzing lyrics in order to figure out what the singer is trying to say, who they are saying it to and why. And if the lyrics don't make any sense, I make up my own story.
Again, I don't think I could function without music. It truly gets me through the day...and sometimes through the nights, too.
Katie, I've never been able to answer that question completely and honestly - here's why.
ReplyDeleteI also LOVE music - you described it quite aptly in your post.
However, I LOVE to read. And no, listening to audiotapes is NOT the same.
How in the world do you choose between reading or music? Because to me, that's really what it would come down to.
You know I have thought about that question too, and I am with you.
ReplyDelete