I simply couldn’t pass up this week’s writing challenge, Moved by Music. It’s like putting chocolate in front of me and suggesting I not eat it. Not happening. So, time for a little story…
It’s safe to say that music is in my blood. It was added when I started playing an instrument in school. I was never the best because I didn’t really like practicing, but I enjoyed playing with a group, especially when I got to high school. I started feeling more emotionally connected to some of the music I was playing as I started understanding just how amazing these classical composers were (and how sneaky the Looney Tunes cartoonists were to get kids listening to classical music). The passion, the tenderness, the humor, and so much more that can be conveyed in a melody or a harmony has never ceased to amaze me.
Around this time, I started paying more attention to movie soundtracks. Howard Shore was churning out some especially epic soundtracks for this little trilogy called Lord of the Rings. You might have heard about it. 😉 I remember listening to one of the soundtracks and thinking about how cool it would be to be part of an orchestra that played for major movies like these. Whether or not that actually happens is still up in the air, but I digress.
You know the saying about not missing something ’til it’s gone? That happened with me and orchestra. I didn’t fully realize how much playing had become ingrained in my very being. Without it, a part of me was missing. I wasn’t sure what to do. I had recently been given a digital camera, so I started taking pictures of my instrument and felt that connection that I had been missing. The photography led me to playing around with those pictures in GIMP, which led me into the world of graphic and web design.
Since then, I found an orchestra I enjoy playing with and I’ve noticed that a fair number of my projects these days are inspired by music. Combining those creative passions turns into something I’m always happy with. I don’t try to incorporate music into so many projects, it just happens. Music is one of the most powerful forces in this world that touches everyone in some way. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know where I’d be without it
stephanissima creates 
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how cool that you are in an orchestra! i certainly could not imagine a world without music. and although my hearing sometimes prevents me from hearing all there is to be heard, i appreciate having a headset, where some of those gaps are filled as i listen to the riches of a piece such as the one you shared here. thanks! it was quite beautiful.
there is something quite amazing about music that goes beyond words, and it breaks the language barrier, and incredibly, it has the power to lift the spirit.
i will never forget the last time i visited my Dad. suspecting that his days were coming to an end, but not wanting it to be so, i remember him being very weary. so rather than hold conversations or read aloud to him, my mom and i sang songs that i knew from my childhood, songs that he would likely have known from his own childhood too. he did not have the strength to sing along, but i still remember how he suddenly began tapping his fingers in rhythm to the melody. and when my mom and i got stuck on some of the words, he spontaneously supplied them for us.
not sure if the music was too much for him, i asked if it was enough, and he said, ‘sing as long as you have breath.’ in hindsight, it turned out to be one of the last things he said to me. and so we sang, songs about not being afraid, about never being alone, about a good shepherd that watched over his sheep.
when i said good-bye that evening, i really meant it to be a so long, and see you tomorrow, because i had taken the day off work and planned to come again. but he slipped away early the next morning, safely into the arms of the good shepherd he believed in.
i play the keyboard in a small band and so enjoy it – and i will keep on singing as long as i have breath.
Awwww, that’s one of the best pieces of advice to leave with someone. It’s so cool how it’s stuck with you ever since and that you live up to your dad’s words 🙂 Music is so powerful
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