did you know
by Diana Freccia
W
ebster’s Dictionary defines music as “the science or
art of
ordering tones or sounds in succession, in com-
bination, and
in temporal relationships to produce a compos-
ition having unity
and continuity.” It comes from the Greek
word muse, the
goddesses who were considered guiding
geniuses for art, music,
poetry, and philosophy. For me, my therapy
is my writing, my
fitness, and my music. They are interconnected. Music drives my mind
and my footsteps. Music mirrors how I feel.
Music is the soundtrack to our
lives. It plays in elevators, in stores,
in our cars, in our headphones; it
gets stuck in our heads. It activates
the brain and stimulates the soul
in a way that nothing else can. It
provides a universal rhythm to set
our bodies in motion. It is poetry
set to sound. It is so powerful,
in fact, that it allows us to travel
through time, transporting us back
to younger, wilder days. It plays a
vital role in our existence, whether
we hear it or not. Our bodies move
to our own heartbeats; biological
clocks forever ticking as our
blood flows and stomachs
gurgle. Music is repetitive in
nature, just like working out.
The inspiration for this
article came to me on
Thanksgiving morning, as I
waited for my brother to cross
the finish line of a Turkey Trot.
Watching the torrent of runners
who whirred past me to the
completion of their race, I noticed
that the majority of the runners
were tethered to their headphone
strings. What were they listening to?
What was the magical melody that
helped them glide across the finish
line? It got me to thinking about
the music that motivates us...of the
mantras that play in the final
scenes of sports movies. What is
your mantra?
“The Fighter” by Gym Class
Heroes featuring Ryan Tedder is
currently mine. In its chorus it says,
“It’s gonna take a couple of right
hooks, a few left jabs for you
to recognize you really ain’t got
it bad.....” We like to
catastrophize the situations we
are in and assume that things are
worse than they really are. We have
what it takes to succeed.
Personally, when I go back
to songs I used to love,
some are classics, some
embarrass me, some just
don’t click the same way as
they once did for me. The
right lyrics can strike chords that
resonate for a long time. They can
provide comfort and help you get
through difficult times. They can
distract you from pain. They can
trigger powerful memories. I can
remember a feeling or a smell or a
location that was attached to each
melody. Each chorus was a mantra
that motivated me or dragged me
March 2016 | 11