Music and words.
For as long as I can remember, those two have been the longest running threads in my life. Weaved into every event, major or minor. The words to a song. The lone violin or cello. The screams of a rock or metal band, softening into the bansuri or flute, requiring mastery of breath. Sony Walkmans and iPod and streaming music on YouTube or Spotify. Podcasts, interviews, sometimes a movie.
I’m not alone of course.
Just two shapes of lego blocks – words and music- can, and do, created emotional rollercoasters for every human. The love letter you write. Or receive. (Perhaps not anymore, in these days of texts and ephemeral videos?) A song dedicated to a crush at a fete, saying the words you never would dare say to your crush in person. Sometimes, no words are required. The instruments draw out memories gathering webs in the corner of the mind, with every draw of the bow or flow of air through a reed. Or as happened this morning, listening to someone else read the words of a deeply personal letter from a father to his newborn son.
I’m truly grateful for the words, the music, the combinations of words and music. The only thing I’m more grateful for today are the people who in my life who turn 26 letters and 12 notes into a composition that is truly unique for me.