The Power of Music

I love music. I guess it's a requirement of working in radio. I've always loved music. I feel like it goes into my ears and makes a beeline straight to my heart and soul. I can think back to many big moments in my life and immediately, I think of the songs I was listening to at the time. When I was five and my family moved to Florida, my sister and I rocked out in our new house to "Take on Me" by a-ha. At ten, my grandparents were in a plane crash. I remember riding to school the next morning with my car-pool and "Sacrifice" by Elton John was playing. Even though it's about infidelity, not the loss of a loved one, I still tear up when I hear that song. My teen years were filled with more music than actual conversations and I'm making new music memories every day.

Carlos and I love sharing new music with each other and reminicing about old stuff too. We have very similar tastes which is neat. When you care a lot about music, discussing it with another person can be like asking for their personal approval. Carlos and I share an office, and we always have music on, so we both made a "mix tape" CD. We didn't have any guidelines on what to include, so everything was fair game! Talk about difficult! I had to choose just 18 songs from my entire library.

When I pressed play today, I wanted Carlos to love the songs he'd never heard before and stand up and cheer for the ones that were old school. What was cool is that the songs that were the memory triggers for me were for him as well. When "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men played we both stood there, stared into the distance and said, "Man, this song brings back some memories." He recalled a school dance and for me, it was the anthem of my 8th grade graduation where childhood friends all went separate ways. Oh, the drama! Then Brian McKnight's "Anytime" came on. We both immediately got sad. I don't think I was ever going through a break up when this song was out, but I still feel like I was. That song just cuts right to the core.

How does music do that? I suppose our sense of hearing deserves as much credit as our sense of sight. We don't think twice when a picture triggers a memory. I think our subconscious is like a file cabinet full of locked memories and some songs are the key to a memory. For me, music triggers are a lot deeper than pictures. With music, I can feel the moment, not just remember it.

Music is a pretty awesome gift that God has given us - lyrics, voices, instruments, composition. God didn't just give us a stagnant one time gift to keep going back to. There's new music every day! We get to love the old, all while discovering new artists, songs and feelings. I encourage you to share the music you love and to ask friends and family to share with you the music they love. It can be a great bond between us all, male and female, Protestants and Catholics, young and old, and here's a thought - Christian and non-Christian. Spirit FM is such a great tool for introducing our faith to someone who has a wall up. Like I said, it can make a beeline straight for the heart and soul. Jesus might hop on board and make it there too.

-Abby