Taking Care of Myself, part two--A Paragraph a Day

Taking a hot bath is a wonderfully relaxing thing for me to do, but when I add music with positive, love-filled music, it gets even better.  In the tub yesterday evening, I heard songs that are peaceful and inspiring and uplifting.  I try to find all of the uplifting music I can that's good, that's pleasant to listen to.  Some of it is upbeat and energetic, and that's not the kind of music that helps me to relax in the tub so I listen to it at other times.  Music is one of the most important parts of my life, and I've finally figured out why--our family moved rather constantly when I was young, and the music on the radio was the only constant that I had other than my family members, and we were quite dysfunctional.  But when we moved from San Diego to Norfolk, for example, the songs that I had been listening to in California were the same ones that were playing in Virginia when we got there, and I was able to feel a sense of stability and connection.  I had left behind all my friends and everything else that was familiar to me, but at least I had the songs.  And now that I have a collection of songs that help me to think of the beauty and wonder of life, I'm able to listen to them when I need to fill my mind with something positive.  Try listening to Dolly Parton's "Everything Is Beautiful" sometime and see whether or not you feel just a little bit better when the song is through.  Kelley Hunt's "Miracle" is another one that I can listen to often, as is Alison Krauss' "Simple Love."  We need to fill our minds with as much positivity as possible if we want to live positive lives, and music can be a wonderful way to do just that.

The Songs of Birds--A Paragraph a Day

There are very few things that to me are more pleasant to hear than the songs of birds.  And that seems quite strange, as the birds aren't singing to entertain or impress anyone with their musical ability--they're just doing what they do, and it sounds very nice to most of us.  Of course, you get your crows and ravens that make a less pleasant sound or two, but all in all the songs of birds are a beautiful part of life.  This fact gets me thinking, though, about the people I know.  What about their songs?  Am  listening closely to their songs and appreciating them?  Do they perhaps have songs as beautiful as those of the birds, but I can't hear them because I've pre-judged the people?  Perhaps because I don't expect beautiful songs from everyone, I don't hear many of the songs that could be absolutely wonderful.  I love to hear the birds singing, and perhaps there are many songs from many people that I could love just as much.  I'm going to try to keep my ears open and to hear the songs that so far I've been deaf to, songs that may enrich my life in ways that I can't even imagine now.  The birds do it all the time for me, and maybe it's time that I allow the people all around me to do so also.

One Power of Music--A Paragraph a Day

I listen to a lot of music, and I have my entire life long.  It's soothing to me, especially when there's a strong melody and good vocals.  Some songs I can listen to over and over again, without ever growing tired of them.  Music has been a friend to me since I was very young--since I was in a military family, we moved pretty constantly, and the music was about the only constant in my life other than my family members.  And quite honestly, I often preferred the music to the family members, given the amount of conflict that they liked to create.  We could move from the west coast to the east coast to the midwest, and I could turn on the radio anywhere and hear the same songs.  Even the disc jockeys sounded the same, oddly enough.  It was pretty much the only stable element of an early life that completely lacked stability, the only consistent element in a life that completely lacked consistency.  Some people like music for scholarly reasons; others are musicians and they love music because they have a strong relationship with the sounds.  Me, I appreciate music definitely for the sound, but mostly for the way it was always there for me when I needed to be comforted or reassured that the world wasn't completely falling apart, that there was at least one thing that I could depend on.