I think we can all agree with the adage that music is good for the soul.
A good song with meaningful lyrics, or a complex piece by a talented composer has the mysterious ability to transport us to places in the past we had long forgotten, and to bind up wounds that nothing else can.
I appreciate a variety of music, some genres more than others. I have always favored “soft rock” or ballads and “coffeehouse” music over everything else, but really, as a child of the 80s, there are many “big hair” bands that knew how to rock my world then … and still do now.
In college I took a music appreciation class to fulfill one of my general studies requirements. It was fascinating to me to explore all the pieces of a good composition, and to really LISTEN to all that was going on in any particular piece. I have been a big fan of classical music ever since. As a side note, this kind of music especially, is good for the brain and creativity. Back then, I even had a few compact discs featuring famous composers… i.e. Mozart at Midnight, Debussey for Daydreaming, Classical Music for Reading… you get the point.
In addition to all of this, one of my brothers is a musical junkie, and has introduced me to styles and songwriters I can promise you, I never would have discovered on my own. Although many of his musical tastes don’t resonate with me, they have always served to stretch my soul in new directions.
So, it is rather odd that I had gone for unknown years not long ago, where I avoided music altogether, and hardly listened to it at all.
I don’t know if it was intentional or unintentional, or maybe a combination of both, but when I was under a great deal of stress in my life – when music was probably what I needed the most – all it did was fall by the wayside.
Please don’t allow this to happen to you.
When I finally began listening to long-forgotten favorites a few years ago, it was as though my soul began to wake from a long dormancy, the depths of which were unknown to me. Now, I spend many evenings on YouTube digging up songs I had long forgotten, and discovering new ones.
And, in the last year, I have begun to listen to sound therapy at night. Previously, I always needed everything to be quiet at bedtime, except for the white noise that comes from a fan.
But since I began listening to music to calm anxiety or for deep healing or to release negativity or for deep sleep and so on, my life experiences have opened to whole new worlds, ones I never imagined possible when I tried to figure out everything solely with my brain.
Music has brought color back to my life.
It has done for me in a rather short amount of time, what therapy and medications couldn’t do over the course of a decade…. return to and rediscover the beautiful wilderness of my soul, and a lifetime of memories stored in my heart space.
(DISCLAIMER: I am not a qualified medical professional. I am not saying not to take medications, as prescribed by knowledgeable medical professionals. Those medications I have taken and continue to take have a purpose in my life.)
With that being said, using music to heal, in addition to working as a team with doctors for one’s well-being, is priceless.
The results are transformational.
Transcendent, even.
And, not only is music deeply healing, but it is also a magical way to communicate one’s thoughts and emotions to others, when words will not come.
Sharing a meaningful song with someone you care for to express all that is going on between you, has a way of not only communicating your thoughts and feelings, but also instantaneously deepening your bond.
And, when it comes to love, there isn’t much better than that.
- SPIRIT MATTERS is a weekly column that examines spirituality. Contact Jerrilyn Zavada at jzblue33@yahoo.com to share how you engage your spirit in your life and in your community.