Music's Power

Welcome back. While contemplating my post for this week, I found myself struggling to find the words and to organize my thoughts behind why I wanted to talk about music. I wanted to paint a picture of music's importance and life altering effects. Music has always and continues to have a huge influence on my life. I love music, but I found it hard to describe why and how I love it.

So why is it hard to explain why we love something? Insert biology facts from Simon Sinek's book "Start with Why" to help explain why. Our brains are organized into various areas that control functions. The two areas that provide context here, are the neocortex and the limbic system. The neocortex is responsible for rational, analytical thoughts, and language. The limbic system is responsible for all of our feelings, such as trust and loyalty, behavior and our decision-making. The limbic system has no capacity for language and the neocortex has no capacity for feelings. This disconnect is why putting our feelings into words can often be so hard.

So let's first thank our brains for creating anatomy based silos that make it hard for us to apply language and thoughts to our feelings. Thank you. Secondly, I will challenge my brain to provide words that paint the picture of why music has been a catalyst to my success and a mainstay in my life.

Let's start at the beginning. I remember the first album I bought. It was Michael Jackson's album Dangerous. I know, I know, I am a child of the 80s. I can also remember holding makeshift "concerts" for my parents, where my older brother and I used Marble Works pieces to make microphones. So needless to say, music and I started early. My parents had an appreciation for music, and I can remember music being played on a constant basis. Throughout high school, music seemed to often put my experiences into words. To this day, if I hear the song from The Offspring called "The kids aren't alright," I will get a rush of feelings reminding me of the Columbine shootings. This song seemed to bring context to why such a thing would happen. On the other side, Linkin Park's songs "Crawling" and "Faint" seemed to relate to my darker side while simultaneously provided a negative side-effect to my driving, at the time. I got more speeding tickets listening to Linkin Park than any other artist. Sorry, mom and dad. To this day, I still seem to speed when I listen to those songs. The good news here, is now, I can now recognize these songs having an effect on the speed in which I am driving and I can then take my foot off the pedal. While I have always had a connection with music, I now realize the power that music had (and still has) in my life.

Would you be surprised to know that the artist Eminem was a huge influence and motivation for me to pursue college? It's true. Throughout high school, I had no aspiration to go to college, had no way to pay for it and thought the idea of spending more time in school sounded terrible. Interesting to think I went on to complete and additional 6 years of education. After graduating, I started working and moved out of my parent's house with a friend. I felt that I had made it. I was working two full-time jobs, and barely making ends meet. Was this making it? I soon began to realize that it wasn't fulfilling, but I didn't exactly know how to make material changes that would advance my life. Honestly, I felt like Marshal Matters in the movie 8 Mile. That I needed to get out of the trailer park and make it.

Now, as a disclaimer, I have been very lucky and lived a blessed life that by no means was even close to the conditions presented and depicted in the movie. But the struggle felt similar, I knew I was destined to do more. I remember sitting on our couch one evening, chatting with a friend from high school who was in her freshman year of college at the University of Northern Colorado. She seemed to be having so much fun and was pursuing her goals. She invited me to come visit her and see what college was all about. So my roommate at the time and I went to Greeley to visit with her and some other friends we knew from high school, right then it hit me. I instantly knew what I wanted, to go to school. Now I'll remind you, I had not exactly prepared myself to go to college when I was in high school, so needless to say I had some work to do. I spent the next couple of months, doing whatever it took to get in, while, listening to Eminem endlessly, building a vision board, studying to retake the ACT, and piecing together the pieces to start school the following August. That was it. I'm happy to report that I graduated 4 years later. Interesting to think that the teenager who didn't want to go to college ended up completing an additional 6 years of education.

If I look back at times in my life where music was instrumental, it was these times, when I needed a kick in the ass, an auditory display of my feelings or reason to believe that I could persevere. It was music that provided that catalyst. Listening to artist like Eminem, Kanye West, 2Pac, and others provided this vision of achievement. That despite our past, our situations, constraints, you could rise above and live the life you wanted to live. If you know anything about the artist I've mentioned above, all 3 of these artists came from troubled pasts but had unyielding passion and ambition to get off the streets. Examples of the artist like Macklemore, who struggled with drug addiction and relapse, end up revolutionizing the music industry by creating and producing his own album without the aid of a label.

Knowing others pursued greatness and succeeded or even climbed the ladder only to fall and get back up, has provided me the proof of legitimacy or proof of the concept that struggles exist on the road to success. And they can be overcome through perseverance, passion, and focus. Even now as changes are occurring in my career, music injects confidence to help me navigate my thoughts and provide perspective. One quote that has always hit home for me and that I refer to often is the quote "One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain" - Bob Marley. How cool is that quote? And it is so true, the power of music and what it can do to you.

I have grown to appreciate all music, and have been lucky enough to be introduced to an eclectic assortment of types, artist, and genres. As I wrap this blog post up, I want to talk about to two recent experiences that bring together the application of this post.

I recently went to Las Vegas with my father in law on our annual Super Bowl getaway. Despite my apprehension, at times, to go see new artists, my father in law has introduced me to some incredible artists that I would not likely have paid the money to go see on my own. Thank you, Rick. This year, we went to see Willy Nelson. Now, I inevitably know who Willy Nelson is, and know a little about his music, but what I didn't know, was that Willy Nelson is incredibly passionate and a badass. Here this guy is 84 years old, playing a 90-minute set straight through, as the main guitar artist. He played the guitar as though it was an extension of his body, like it was a piece of him. Willy Nelson has been writing and playing music for 77 years, since the age of 7. Can you imagine? Playing guitar for that long, at this point that guitar is connected to him. Interesting fact, Willy Nelson celebrated his 84th birthday on April 29th. What you may not know, is Willy Nelson overcame quite a few obstacles on his path to success. His parents abandoned him when he was very young, leaving him in the care of his grandparents (who introduced him to music and bought him his first guitar), he held numerous hard labor jobs, that ultimately provided the insight, passion, and motivation to continue to pursue music. To which, I am glad he did. Music became this medium to which he could speak his mind, and share with others, the struggles of life.

The second experience really happened by circumstance. My kiddos recently discovered the movie Moana, and with that, have become obsessed with everything Moana. At this moment I live Moana on a daily basis in one media or another. While trying to provide "Moana music" on the ride to preschool one morning we listened to one of the main songs from the movie named "How far I'll go" by Alessia Cara. I instantly became enthralled with this artist. I bought her album "Know it All" within days and texted my wife hours later after listening to it nonstop that she needed to listen to it because it was "life changing." I truly felt that way. Not only does Alessia Cara have an amazing voice, but her songs are soulful, genuine and real. What you may find interesting, as I did, was that Alessia took a huge leap after high school. Alessia Cara made the decision to devote an entire year just to her music before she would pursue college. Through her YouTube account, she posted a recording of her covering various artist and caught the attention of the label Def Jam. Shortly thereafter, her album Know It All was produced. Through passion and perseverance, she prevailed. She took a leap and focused on what truly fulfilled her. The song "Four Pink Walls" tells her story of having these dreams, that at the time, felt like just that, dreams. Below are the first lines of the song.

I grew up memorizing all the cracks in the wall Staring up at the ceiling watching particles fall See I prayed every day for a change to be made And I'd wait to be saved, oh no Up at night, hiding under covers found my escape Shut my eyes and let the bass buzz into my brain See I knew I was destined for bigger And better but never said a thing

I assumed there was only room for My dreams in my dreams so I'd sleep And repeat 'til the moon went home And I didn't know where it'd take me But made me so crazy in love with it

Willy Nelson and Alessia Cara are just two examples portraying the power of music, choosing to live the life you want to live and choosing to live it every day. They both had constraints, struggles, and yet made the conscious decision to follow their dreams no matter what.

How can you not draw motivation, passion, and proof of success through these two examples? I challenge you to find inspiration from the world we live in and use that inspiration to fuel your life. For me, it is music that speaks to me. If you are struggling with finding your path, try to find solace in that every successful person who has achieved success has had to overcome constraints and obstacles on their path. What I have found is that in every example of someone achieving success, passion, perseverance, and motivation were key ingredients. So whether it is music or something else that provides these ingredients for you, use whatever it is to live the life you want to live. Find your motivation, insert your passion and keep pushing no matter what.

Furthermore, if it worked for me, maybe it will work for you, here are the first lines from the song "Lose Yourself" by Eminem.

Look If you had One shot Or one opportunity To seize everything you ever wanted In one moment Would you capture it Or just let it slip?

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment You own it, you better never let it go You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow This opportunity comes once in a lifetime you better

You can do anything you set your mind to

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