Go Where the Music Is
This metaphor is based on the idea of following the music, literally! You know when you’re walking down a city street and out from a darkly lit pub you hear an amazing band? If you’re lucky enough to have the time, you make an impromptu stop and check it out. People you didn’t know before this moment are on stage playing your favourite song and you’re enamoured. Maybe it’s Bennie and the Jets by Elton John or B*tch Don’t Kill My Vibe by Kendrick Lamar or Jackson by Johnny Cash..it doesn’t matter. You sing along, order a pint, sit back and relax.
When we’re listening to music, we are not often thinking about “why” we like it, we simply do. The same is true for the opposite experience. When we hear music that we don’t enjoy, we don’t often intellectualize the experience. We just don’t like the music. Some days a song will call us in, other days we won’t be able to change the same song quick enough. These experiences are based on feeling much more than they’re based on thought.
We may not be conscious of our thoughts while we’re listening to music, but there is a network of neural activity occurring in our brain which is helping to create the feelings in our body. Our musical experiences are the result of a deep connection within our mind and body. This is displayed beautifully through imaging of a person’s brain while listening to music. There is plenty of science to back the use of music therapy for dementia, Alzheimers, depression, anxiety, stress, traumatic brain injury and many other ailments. This because of the positive effect music has on people. The mind and body are inextricably linked and music is a gateway to both. If you’re like myself, music is often integrated as a spiritual experience as well. It’s a moment of connection with divinity. This cannot be explained, only felt.
Not every experience in life needs to be or can be explained. Sometimes our thoughts create more chaos than peace. Going where the music is means to follow what innately feels good at the time..without overthinking, without needing a reason or an explanation. It is to follow the true call of your “heart”, no matter how beautiful or painful the truth of that call is in the moment. To follow the music is to listen. Like...really...listen. To hear the music we must be quiet.
When we hear the music and it feels good (I mean soul good, not surface level satisfaction, you know the difference) we should chase it. And I don’t mean chase as in an act of desperation, but rather actively pursue. To go where the music is is to honour yourself. It is to understand what makes you tick, makes your eyes light up, makes your hips move and your body shake. It is to give yourself permission to act with abandon and give yourself a moment with your song. So, go on you shower-singing-hairbrush-for-a-microphone bandit. Where are you being lead by that good, good energy? Follow the song. Go where the music is...