Motivational Mentos, musical inspiration

I was recently given the almighty and powerful task of writing a music column. I accepted the challenge gracefully and leapt and bound the entire block back to my humble abode. 

Then, the night before I was to turn in my first column, a horrible thing happened: The masterpiece before you lay hidden beneath the layers of a blank word document. I had no idea what I was going to write. Lucky for me, I had a plethora of musical wonderments waiting to fill my ears. However, none were living up to their expectations, and I sat dumbfounded eating fruit Mentos.  

I find life to be a difficult struggle without proper musical motivation.  
So there I sat in the dark, in my newly decorated dorm room bursting with pictures of my favorite men (John, Paul, George and Ringo), listening to The Beatles’ “Love” album. My writer’s block was just as terrible as the coffee I was drinking.

Fortunately, I can waste time like no other, so I began skimming through my playlists to try to find my groove.

I played a little Queen and then found myself moving to the soulful vocals of Tracy Chapman.  

As I was swaying to the rhythm of “Give Me One Reason,” a thought bubble appeared above my head.  

What does music really do for us?

Is it really as moving as we believe or does it just fill us with passion and pleasure for three and a half minutes?

If you take a step back and observe, music can do whatever you allow it to do, whatever you need it to do.

Music can shine a light on a new perspective. It can fill a void. It can calm you or excite you. It can help you escape. Music can teach love, and it can teach hate. It can motivate, and it can distract. It can create a conversation or, with the right rhythm, it can steal you away for a quick dance.

The creators of this thing that has the ability to affect such a large number of people have no idea of their power. Artists can be therapists for those in need of comfort or they can be inspiration for those who are searching for the wrong thing. Artists create a world where people are allowed to just ... be.

I believe John Lennon had it figured out when he said, “Music is everybody’s possession.”