Music to soothe

I am lucky in that I grew up in a home where music was treasured, played all the time, and we kids were encouraged to sing and learn an instrument. I know that music has the potential to speak to us in a way that language simply does not. When I'm in a funk I turn to my iTunes "mellow" playlist and wallow for a while until the music pushes me out of my bad mood. It's not something rational or measurable, it's just how music influences me.

Today Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" came on and walloped me with the emotional intensity of a Mack truck barreling through. I don't even know why it hit me so hard, but this is a piece of music which effects me deeply on a level I don't have conscious access to. I love the yearning it seems to express--and the way it resolves in acceptance.

Today, I'm grateful that my parents taught me to appreciate music. What a gift.