The gift of music

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I've been feeling very blue for the past several days.  I understand why, and I'm okay with it because grieving is a natural emotion that accompanies loss.  But after a few days of complete and total lethargy, I've decided it's time to do something with my pain, to honor it, to allow it to be, so that I can eventually move on.

Tonight I remembered something that I used to know... that music has an incredibly powerful calming effect.  Perhaps it's the beauty of creative expression.  Or maybe it's the heartfelt certainty that someone else has experienced similar emotions, and they are able to express them in ways that I cannot.  Whatever the reason, no matter how low I sometimes sink, music is always able to lift my spirits.

I took piano lessons for most of my childhood.  It wasn't until I was much older that my mother told me that as a teenager, she could always tell when I was sad or under stress.  Those were the times that she never had to remind me that I was supposed to practice at least an hour a day.  Not only did I get my requisite hour in without a fuss, but I apparently lost track of time, got lost in my music, and played for much longer.  I bought another piano a few years ago, but it's been sitting quietly in my living room.  Perhaps it's time to revisit that habit.

In the meantime, tonight I'm thankful for YouTube and all the P.J. DJs who post music and videos on line for the rest of us to listen to for free.  I've created a few playlists so that I'll have appropriate music available for whatever mood hits me.  Right now I'm working on one called "Weepfest" which has some of my favorite songs that are so beautiful, or so expressive in their lyrics, that they make me cry.  I know it may sound weird, but scientists have actually studied the physiological effects of crying and have found it to be beneficial.  To read more on this, click here, here, and here.  Now that I've had a good cry, I feel much better.

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