Thursday, November 5, 2009

Places of Solace: Music

Music is a blanket for my soul, a place of solace I can take with me almost anywhere.
Got to hop in the car and do errands? (Life goes on, groceries must be gathered, people chauffeured, etc.) I crank up the local classical music station ... those cars that rattle windows with the bass line have nothing over my little radio blasting out Mozart! And not only in the car.

When I have writing/editing projects to deal with, deadlines to meet, and my heart's just not in it, on goes iTunes, in go the earphones, and I use the music to focus, create, advance, and soothe—all at once.
Music for waking and for sleeping.
Music when I have no more words, and just need to go inside myself for a while.

Music when I need to get out, walk, and see the sky, the trees, the clouds, and the horizon. And if I don't bring my iPod with me, there's a different kind of "music" to bring me to center—birds singing, wind in the trees, distant traffic.

Music is a major healing element in my life. It's helped me through many rough times. Few things have the power to help me recover to the extent that music does.
In this way, I count myself blessed.

2 comments:

Patricia Stoltey said...

I listen to music when I walk and when I'm in the car, but I avoid the distraction when I'm writing or reading because I tend to focus on the music instead.

When I was a kid, however, I played the piano (although not well) and used my practice time as a sort of meditation. I could empty my mind of everything and totally focus on music. I must think about recapturing that habit since I now have a keyboard. I think it would be soothing.

Ann Parker said...

Hi Patricia!
I think part of my draw to music is the fact that my mother was an accomplished pianist. When I hear certain pieces ... Chopin, especially... they remind me of her very vividly.