“I HATE YOU!” I scamper up the staircase, tripping on the stairs I didn’t bother to step on. My breathing is fast and heavy; my eyes are stinging from the coal black eyeliner mixed with tears that fill my eyes. Another door slam. Typical. This was an everyday occurrence. No matter how hard I try, there is no avoiding the constant battle between an adolescent teen and her menopausal mother. I glance in the mirror to see puffy eyes and a nose looking as if Jack Frost had nipped at it, even though it was late August. My vision is unnaturally blurry as I feel around my room for the one thing that can always comfort me – my iPod. As my hands clutch the cool, metal frame and plug it in to my green speaker pillow, I slowly drift away. Forgetting the fight with my mom, problems at school, the narrow-minded presidential candidates, I finally reach a state of peace within myself. I’m in my happy place.
I believe in music. Yes it’s cliché, I’m aware of that. No, I’m not in the high school marching band, or even play a musical instrument for that matter. My quest in making music has just been another inevitable failure. Ask anyone in the sixth grade band – I was probably the worst oboist on the face of the planet. But, ask them again, and they’ll tell you that I am completely, undeniably in love with music.
Music is pure Disney Magic, complete with pixy dust and red shoes that can take you anywhere in a blink of an eye. I don’t just listen to music; I live and breathe it constantly. To me, music is an incredible force, a total constant in my life. A certain song can bring you back to a person, a place, or even a moment. No matter what has changed in your life, that song will always stay the same, just like that moment. Rhythms, melodies, and song lyrics can all conjure up feelings, emotions, and thoughts, like you never thought possible. When I listen to music, I hear the lyrics speak to me, grabbing me by the hand as if to say, “Don’t think or judge, just listen.” I share an emotional connection to every song out of the two thousand I currently have on my iPod. And each and every one of them, no matter what genre, artist, or title, has its own story. Every song has its own message that someone, somewhere wants to scream out to the world. Music says what plain words can’t. Music is clear and simple, but at the same time complicated and deep. Music holds nothing back.
I only hope that one day, I, the music addict, can write songs that change people’s lives like the ones that have changed mine. I believe in the power of music.