I Can Hear Music
I’ve been thinking about music quite a bit lately, as well as listening to it quite a bit. Currently, I am in a huge Bob Dylan phase. This is not unusual since he is at the pinnacle of my favorite artist list, along with Johnny Cash. That seems only right to me, as the musical kinship and mutual admiration between them is well known. But I digress…
To me, music represents the purest, most primal, form of artistic and spiritual expression. The listener can think about it and dissect it (lyrically or sonically), or can just experience the music on a completely instinctual and spiritual level. While one can do that with most art forms, music seems to lend itself more easily to just being experienced. Even if one does not listen actively to music playing in the background, the mood of the person changes due to the music. There is something about sound that affects the listener at the most primal level. While we all have different tastes, almost everyone enjoys music. Not only that, but it is usually the only form of art that is involved in almost every important ritual of our lives.
I think children and teenagers get this so well. Watch a small child dancing to music. That child gets it. In the teenage years and young adulthood music becomes a part of identity as we work to define who we are. In the hustle and bustle of adult life music is much of the time relegated to familiar background noise. It is many times an unacknowledged source of basic comfort.
For me, music is my friend on the road as I go back and forth to work. I don’t have much time at home to listen to music. There, alone in my car, I center myself. I am spiritually renewed and at peace. After years of driving the same highway, I’m used to the commute and distractions are normally minimal.
Do yourself a favor. Take some time to listen to some music soon. Pull out a favorite CD, mp3 or whatever. Sit back or lay back and enjoy it with no distractions. Give music a chance to be more than just a soundtrack to your life. Doing so is truly a spiritual experience.