Life is hard. Life is full of stress, and stresses of different levels. There is stress, there is overwhelmed, and then there is drowning. Each level of stress is completely different than the rest, but they all are based off the same thing.
Stress is a normal part of life, and everyone gets busy and everyone gets stressed about different aspects of their lives, emotional, physical, schedule, etc. Mild stress is okay. It helps us perform better, and keeps us moving. Sometimes we get a little too stressed out and we experience fatigue, usually after a long day of different kinds of stressed. Being overwhelmed can lead to exhaustion, mental or physical. These are the times where you start to get snappy with people, telling them you're sorry, you're just "really stressed out". Nothing a bath, a week or so, or a girl's night out can't fix.
Drowning...is different. When you're drowning, it is literally impossible for you to cry for help, because your body is trying to focus more on breathing itself. You can't wave your arms around, because your body is making you keep your arms pushing down on the water in order to stay alive.
When you're drowning, everything around you is pushing on you with unrelenting pressure. It feels like your bones might just snap, that your lungs are getting smaller and smaller and any moment now there's not going to be any room to hold air, your stomach is cramping and punching and trying to figure out what's happening, your heart is thumping so loud and harsh it may as well be bleeding into your chest, a noose is around your neck and every single second it is tightening itself tighter and tighter as you desperately flail to cling onto something but all you can grab is the heavy water that's all around you and
for a split second
everything is calm.
Everything is dark.
Everything is silent.
Everything is cold.
When you're drowning in a wide, vast, ocean,
nobody sees you suffering.
They see the blue sea and the sand.
They do not see the cold depths of the ocean or feel the pressure of the world upon their chest.
There are no hands to help you out.
There are no lifeboats coming to rescue you.
You are alone.
There is stress, and then there is drowning.
I am drowning.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
What Music Means to Me
This is one of those things that band directors always ask, and the answer is always "music is life, I love band" stuff like that- but I think I've finally figured out what music is to me.
Music is water.
Let me explain:
The human body can go three weeks without food. It can only go 3 hours without water in harsh conditions, up to 8 days in normal conditions, but still highly unpleasant. In the same way, music is vital to survival. Living a day without music is going a day without water; tolerable, yes, but ideal- not in the slightest, and as the days go on, your brain becomes fuzzy and sleepy. You can't function like you should be able to, you don't feel right, something important is missing.
Water is rebirth. The cool rain that splashes on the earth and soaks into the ground makes the grass grow and the flowers bloom, it washes away the sins of the world. It creates the golden rows of corn that feed our livestock. It is the maker of new life; likewise, music washes away the transgressions of a person and allows for the beauty in a human to grow.
It can also cause grief. Hurricanes and tsunamis ravage towns and cities, leaving people isolated and alone. Nature has a way of destroying the things that it created; it has a cycle that can cause pain and tears. Music is not always blissful. Not every song is in a major key. It can remind us of the people that we have lost and find us recalling the darkest periods of our lives- but we must brave the depths of the valley in order to truly appreciate the mountaintop.
Sheer power. Water is ever-flowing, ever-changing, never quite the same every time; in this manner, music is always changing, always meaning something different to each listener. Water moves people from place to place, powers buildings, creates electricity. Music has power.
It soothes us. Water makes eases joints, detoxifies us, makes us feel weightless. The feeling of being underwater, being remarkably void of all feeling, the feeling of weightlessness and nothingness that seeps into your brain and bones. Underwater, there are no sounds from the outside world. No words from those you have wronged, no professions of love you've hidden inside for far too long, no vicious words words flung ruthlessly at your face by those closest to you. Underwater, you are alone with merely your thoughts, and all you can hear is silence. This is the effect of music- it can envelop you in a state of thoughtless silence. Music allows you to think clearly- or to not think at all.
Water is fun. Water can be deep abysses of unknown darkness- but it is also the patter of rain on pavement that children play in. It lines the beaches that we relax at, it creates the streams that we raft on and sprays through the sprinklers we run through. Music is fun, music is amusing, music can be downright silly, it can make us smile, it makes us happy.
But mostly-
Everything has water in it. The oceans that separate us, the rivers that connect us, the grass that flourishes green in the summer and the snow that covers it in the winter. The blood pumping in our veins that keeps us alive, down to the perfume we wear- they all contain water. In this way-
everything has music in it. The gentle roar of the oceans and the ripples of the river, the whoosh of grass being blown by an eastern wind, the laughter of children, the hushed sound of a dishwasher, the hum of busy hallways, the chirping of the birds in the morning- this is all music.
To me, music is water.
The world is an everlasting symphony.
Take a moment and listen.
-Brooke
Music is water.
Let me explain:
The human body can go three weeks without food. It can only go 3 hours without water in harsh conditions, up to 8 days in normal conditions, but still highly unpleasant. In the same way, music is vital to survival. Living a day without music is going a day without water; tolerable, yes, but ideal- not in the slightest, and as the days go on, your brain becomes fuzzy and sleepy. You can't function like you should be able to, you don't feel right, something important is missing.
Water is rebirth. The cool rain that splashes on the earth and soaks into the ground makes the grass grow and the flowers bloom, it washes away the sins of the world. It creates the golden rows of corn that feed our livestock. It is the maker of new life; likewise, music washes away the transgressions of a person and allows for the beauty in a human to grow.
It can also cause grief. Hurricanes and tsunamis ravage towns and cities, leaving people isolated and alone. Nature has a way of destroying the things that it created; it has a cycle that can cause pain and tears. Music is not always blissful. Not every song is in a major key. It can remind us of the people that we have lost and find us recalling the darkest periods of our lives- but we must brave the depths of the valley in order to truly appreciate the mountaintop.
Sheer power. Water is ever-flowing, ever-changing, never quite the same every time; in this manner, music is always changing, always meaning something different to each listener. Water moves people from place to place, powers buildings, creates electricity. Music has power.
It soothes us. Water makes eases joints, detoxifies us, makes us feel weightless. The feeling of being underwater, being remarkably void of all feeling, the feeling of weightlessness and nothingness that seeps into your brain and bones. Underwater, there are no sounds from the outside world. No words from those you have wronged, no professions of love you've hidden inside for far too long, no vicious words words flung ruthlessly at your face by those closest to you. Underwater, you are alone with merely your thoughts, and all you can hear is silence. This is the effect of music- it can envelop you in a state of thoughtless silence. Music allows you to think clearly- or to not think at all.
Water is fun. Water can be deep abysses of unknown darkness- but it is also the patter of rain on pavement that children play in. It lines the beaches that we relax at, it creates the streams that we raft on and sprays through the sprinklers we run through. Music is fun, music is amusing, music can be downright silly, it can make us smile, it makes us happy.
But mostly-
Everything has water in it. The oceans that separate us, the rivers that connect us, the grass that flourishes green in the summer and the snow that covers it in the winter. The blood pumping in our veins that keeps us alive, down to the perfume we wear- they all contain water. In this way-
everything has music in it. The gentle roar of the oceans and the ripples of the river, the whoosh of grass being blown by an eastern wind, the laughter of children, the hushed sound of a dishwasher, the hum of busy hallways, the chirping of the birds in the morning- this is all music.
To me, music is water.
The world is an everlasting symphony.
Take a moment and listen.
-Brooke
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)