Language of the Soul

"Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends" -Alphonse de Lamartine

There are many quotes similar to this that express the same sentiment: music is the language of our souls. It speaks when words can't convey the message. I couldn't agree more. Music has a strange power to evoke and help us cope with emotion. Music can pump us up, calm us down, make us happy, make us sad.

Instrumental music can tell a story saturated with events and emotion. One of my favorite examples of this is "August's Rhapsody" from the movie August Rush. That song is phenomenal and musically tells the story of the whole movie. It speaks the sentiment of August's soul and his story in a way words can't.

While instrumental music is powerful, I love hearing lyrics people come up with to help convey their message. How eloquently some artists can express themselves and their emotions blows my mind. There are countless examples of this. I, like many others, use music to cope with emotions I feel. I could probably find a song with lyrics describing every emotion I've ever felt. I love doing this because music helps me express myself when words (as they often do) fail me.

I have tried writing my own music and have written a few songs. Unfortunately, I am never completely satisfied with the result because I have not yet found how to convey the emotions I have stored deep down. If music is the language of the soul, my music is currently learning how to speak. But I guess everyone has to start out with "goo goo ga ga".

I have always loved being part of music and band was a very big part of that experience. I played euphonium. I was second chair, our first chair was Chris, and our third chair was Scott. Not to toot my own horn, but we had quite an amazing euphonium section. One of my most memorable experiences from that class was when we three euphoniums had to hold out a whole note in a very exposed part of the song. We strived so hard to be perfectly in tune with each other and the majority of the time we were successful. As a result of being in tune with ourselves, we were also in tune with the tubas, saxophones, and other instruments in the band. Sounds cheesy, but that was a special experience for me. First to be creating such beautiful music and have it be so in tune was nice. But there's a lesson to be learned here. Everyone can make their own sound, and everyone is built to make their own sound. But if we strive to be on the same page and be unified and in tune, we will create beautiful harmonies that will make our human interaction so much more beautiful and worthwhile.

This has been quite a long post, but I just wanted to convey how beautiful music is and how much I love and appreciate it.

In Limbo

Well, I have officially been a graduate for almost a month now. It's a strange feeling. I couldn't wait to get out, and now I'm hesitant to move on (although I am ready/needing to move on). Gone are the familiar friends, strangers, and teachers. Gone are the familiar hallways and classrooms. Gone are the Friday night lights, walking through crisp air into the electric stadium as the cheers ramped up and the marching band played stand tunes in preparation for our next football victory. In all honesty, gone is my biggest love-hate relationship. Stone Bridge was my second home and I was blessed to attend such an amazing school, although sometimes I couldn't stand it. The variety of emotions I felt there and the variety of experiences I had there are hardly describable and the only testament of what Stone Bridge did for me is the person I am today.

So now I wait to embark on my next adventure, Brigham Young University. Many question why I chose BYU over the Air Force Academy, letting go of a dream in the process. All I can say is that I did what felt right in my heart, no matter how hard it was. I'm excited to get out to BYU to see what adventures I'll have there, who I'll meet, and who I'll become. I'm just about a month away, so I'll try to enjoy this month as my last month before officially becoming an adult.

Limbo is a really fun game, until it becomes your life. I can't wait to get on with my life and stop bending over backwards in limbo trying to figure out how to handle this transition and this whole growing process. I guess I could work harder on trying to enjoy it as part of the ride, but as with most everything in life, that's easier said than done.