Life is Better with a Little Music

I've been thinking a lot about music. I've decided to commit myself to it more than I ever have before. I play every day. I take my uke everywhere I go. I've started giving impromptu performances on the bus, on the sidewalk, to my family. I have callouses on three of my fingers which I cherish and bragged to my mother about. I even played so much that I had to try to learn how to play upside-down because it hurt my back and wrist.

I've obsessed about things in my life: boys, boys, boys, how to get on with life when dealing with stressful circumstances such as moving somewhere new. Playing music engages my mind so that my obsessive thoughts aren't able to take over. It interrupts them. And singing just naturally regulates my breath so that I become relaxed after a few minutes. Strumming the ukulele forces my body to move to a rhythm, like dancing, which also brings relaxation. I get a lot of satisfaction after learning a new song, I've just memorized a song entirely in Hawaiian and it's wonderful to sing in another language.

I've come to discover a new perspective in my music since filling my life with it. Initially I was concerned with sounding good, but now I'm concerned with engaging in the music itself. I don't want to sound "good". I want to sound real. I want to be able to transmit emotion and to connect with individuals. I want to touch people. Not everyone, not all the time, it's just that: life is better with a little music.