Music is a powerful thing. It conveys messages such as love, anger, grief, and excitement. It can change the mood of a room, movie, or person with just a few simple chords. If you really think about it, there are few things in the world that hold as much influential power over the hearts and minds of the human race as music does. It took me a while to realize just how much music does to me. For a long time I was under the impression that my mood controlled my music. If I was angry, I would listen to my angry songs, if I was in a party mood, I'd pull out my exciting, jump up and down, happy songs, etc, etc. Until the other week. I was driving home from work. It had been a wonderful day, full of laughter and productivity. I'd helped a lot of people, gotten all of my tasks for the day completed, and I still had plenty of time to myself once I got home. I was floating. It was simply a wonderful day. When suddenly, harsh notes and angry words started pouring through the sound system and seeping out the open windows of my little car. A discomforting feeling washed over me. So I reached for my MP3 player to change the song, something to better fit my current mood. But as my thumb rested on the "Next" symbol, another car pulled up beside mine. They had the same type of music blasting through their windows. I felt a surge of competition pulse through me. My thumb moved from the "Next" symbol to the "Volume Up" button as my cheerful feelings from the moment before melted away. Driving the rest of the way home I found myself to be irritable and frustrated with every other driver on the road. As I pulled into my driveway I wondered what had been the cause of my sudden mood swing. I felt pretty ridiculous once I figured it out.
Music is truly remarkable. It floods our world, its in every culture, on every continent, in every raindrop, in the beat of every heart. Perhaps the reason I love music so much is that it says things that words alone could never convey. The music I listen to defines who I am. But what if I don't want to be angry? I think it's time to take out the trash, sift out the music that defines someone else. So next time I'm on the road I won't have to worry about that angry song ruining my happy mood, and I'll be one step closer to the person I want to become.
