One good thing about music. When it hits you feel everything

Music is an amazing phenomenon. Just the way it effects your emotions (both good and bad) and invokes memories (both good and bad) is truly something to behold. I think of my own life and my own experience of music and Spotify has really just caused this to be in overdrive for me lately since with this amazing invention I have been able to seamlessly find any song that I can think of. I rank the inventors of Spotify right up there with the inventors of S'mores. I mean you have songs that you listen to that make you think you can take on the world or there are songs that make you want to help people who are in need or songs that make you worship God for who He really is or songs that cause you to cry or smile or laugh. Music is responsible for a rainbow of emotions.

I listen to songs like "Mo Money Mo Problems" and I can visualize my high school days when my friends and I made a music video around my house when we were probably supposed to be sleeping. I can still see that night crystal clear when I hear the lyrics "Throw your rollies in and sky. Wave em side to side and keep your hands high". 

Or when I hear Usher sing "You got it, you got it bad. When you're on the phone. Hang up and you call right back" I can still smell the chlorine from the pool that I danced with my then girlfriend who became my wife by with the flicker of candlelight illuminating our faces. As we disappeared to the world and it was just us and Usher.

Darius Rucker singing "It won't be like this for long. One day we'll look back laughin' at the week we brought her home. This phase is gonna fly by so baby just hold on. It won't be like this for long." I am taken back to the hospital for the birth of our little girl. I remember listening to this song the first night at the hospital right after Olivia was born and just thinking "I can't believe I am a dad" and then thinking how much I needed to cherish every moment because it is going to go so fast. Now 2 and a half years later I wonder where time has gone as my little baby is now my little girl.  

However, I have to wholeheartedly disagree with Bob Marley's assessment of music when he says "One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain." There are several songs that bring back pain for me.

Blessid Union of Soul's song "Nora" is a perfect example. When, towards the end of the song, the lead singer belts out "and when you died I didn't cry for long cause I believe I'll see you again" I am taken back to my great-grandma's funeral. She was my first experience with death of a loved one.

Finally, the song that spurred on this entire blog was a song that I listened to today of which I have included the music video below. The lines "Shine Your light so I can see You. Pull me up, I need to be near You. Hold me, I need to feel love. Can You overcome this heart that's overcome?" invoke memories of the daughter that I never had the chance to meet. The one that God called home before we even had a chance to kiss her face or hold her in our arms. I remember after we lost our baby, I just cried out to God the lyrics to this song. I just needed to feel His embrace and His love. I needed to be comforted by the ultimate comforter.

One thing about me is that I don't let things effect me. Whether that is good or bad, I just don't let things effect me. I tend to suppress any hurt or pain that I have and just move passed it because in my mind, what is the purpose of hurting? What good does it do to feel pain? However, when I listen to music, I have learned to accept all the emotions that come along with it...and I am OK with that.