Music = Spirituality

Music has always been a part of our lives! And we all could attest to that. How often do we see people nowadays listen to their favourite tunes on their i-pods or music phones? Hum to the melody of a popular song? Or at least stomp and wiggle their feet to the beat they like? Not to mention flap their hands as well as sway their body to its rhythm? Some of us may be unaware of it, but music really does move people! I still remember that I had this topic for our research requirement on a GE subject way back 2nd year college (hehe…Communication II subject yata yun…). Anyway, to me personally, I believe that music has played quite a huge part in everything that I’ve been through. It has always been the escape during moments of desolation in my life (haha… grabeng word ah!). It was as if I only had this thing to cling to when I didn’t know how to appease myself. I mean, I don’t play any musical instruments (I did when I was young because I studied quite a lot of them but I don’t remember them anymore.. sadly…)or sing songs as beautifully as they should be sung…but merely listening to it and humming to its tune gave me some sort of solace. Thinking about it now, I think I already know what that shirt which has a print that says “Music saved my life” really meant. Looking at it from this perspective makes me appreciate music as a gift! If only I could count those instances when I would just sing to something which speaks of how I felt that specific moment – be it about happiness, sadness, rejection, love, and so on – I could illustrate vividly how music did really save me!

I also believe that music is closely linked to spirituality. Wikipedia mentions “connection” as a central defining characteristic of spirituality, adding that it includes an “emotional experience” relating to “matters of sanity”. Clearly, I could say that listening to music gives you that connection (which oftentimes you could not describe very well) to something greater than yourself. It also gives you that emotional experience enabling you to feel wide range of human emotions! For example, you could be singing “Your guardian angel” to the one you selflessly and devotedly love or “I’ll be there” to somebody who left you but who still remains special. (ngeks! ampanget ng examples! Hehe…) Or you could find peace in some inspirational songs when you feel like you’re crashing down… These are just some examples of how music affects us. It keeps us sane (we may not know it but it does!) especially in those dark and twisted moments of our lives. Hence, all of us have the chance of making the soundtrack of our lives.

For me, I think these songs are really special. I’ve had lots of favourite ones but these three I would never forget – that my auditory sense had the chance to process them: (Hero – Mariah Carey; Vienna – Billy Joel; Cannonball – Damien Rice)…

Sus! serious daw!... ingats!