A little about my addiction...

 

So, as the title may suggest, I am a self-professed music addict. I’ve always been a big fan of music, but it wasn’t until relatively recently that I discovered how very much I need it. I’ve recently gotten a job where I cannot listen to music while working and have found that it does affect my mood. I have to go out to my car on my lunch break and get my fix! And after double checking the definition of “addiction” (Physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance, and unable to stop taking it without incurring adverse effects), I can very safely say, I am addicted to music.

I suppose writing a blog about music isn’t the most original idea in the world, but since I’ve not been able to discuss music quite so freely with people who understand it, I’ve decided I may as well write about it. So here it is… My unabashed tribute to music.

I can’t think of anything else in the world that has the ability to affect me in such a profound way. I think music is a very powerful thing. Music has the ability of affecting your mood, moving you on such a deep level… Frankly, I find it amazing! I can’t imagine any drug being this fantastic. Where it takes you from feeling like absolute crap, to making you feel like you are soaring above the clouds. The moods of a piece of music… The way all the parts of a song meld together… The lyrics, the melody, the harmony, voice, drums, guitar, keyboards… All of it combines to create music! There are a number of songs and musicians that move me in that way… I find myself grinning stupidly while listening to a guitar solo, or unable to contain my excitement and bouncing around with a song, or having the uncontrollable urge to roll down my windows and blast my music because I just can’t get enough of that sound! Then there are the songs that bring tears to my eyes… Maybe because of the memories listening to it brings back – because every song reminds me of a certain place and time. Or there are the songs that give me such comfort during a hard time in my life, because I feel like I’ve found a friend who understands me.

It’s so disappointing to me that there are so many people who just don’t “get” music. They don’t understand how it can mean so much to a person, but for me, I can’t understand how it can’t mean much to a person. And I think that’s what I miss most from the recent years gone by. Up until fairly recently, I’ve had good friends who I talk to on a regular basis, who understand this part of me. And sure, I know a number of people who know I love music and tolerate it, but I know that to them it’s just another thing… It’s pleasant, but not a part of them. They think I’m being melodramatic when I say that I think I’d die without music, but that is a very true statement. I can’t imagine my life without it. It has always been an important part of my life. Listening to my mom play piano, I believe, started before I was born. From a very early age, I enjoyed music and it often inspired singing and dancing in me. And there are still times that I find myself dancing around like a little kid – feeling completely uninhibited and gleeful. Music is the one constant in my life. It’s always there for me and it can always make me feel better… Who needs drugs or alcohol when there’s music? What can feel better than listening to a fantastic new album for the first time or rediscovering a song you hadn’t listened to for a long time? Nothing, that’s what! So to those people who look at me like I’m crazy when I get completely jazzed over a guitar solo, piano riff, gorgeous melody, intricate harmony, a drum fill, or lyric… I say to them, “You’re the one who’s missing out!”