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Today's
Meditation:
When I was a little kid, I loved to sing. As I
grew older, though, I found that many, many people love to
cut others down for their singing. "Don't quit
your day job," they may say, intending to be funny
but not thinking at all of the effect that their comments
may be having on a young person. All of us have
music in us, but my guess is that most of us rarely or
never allow it out-- we've learned that if we're not in
perfect pitch or if we don't have the best of voices, we
should keep quiet in order to avoid hearing other people's
criticism.
Fortunately, I no longer care about what others say, and
if someone criticizes my singing these days, that will
only make me sing louder. I don't sing to bother
other people, and I don't sing in inappropriate or awkward
situations, but I sing when I want to, and I love doing
so. Music makes me feel a sense of flow, a sense of
connection with everything. When I hear or sing a
good song, I feel wonderful, and I enjoy myself very much.
Other people create music on keyboards or with other
instruments; personally, I'm not able to coordinate my two
hands to play much of anything on the piano, so I stick
with singing and humming and whistling and listening
along. If I didn't have music in my life, or if I
were to repress it out of fear of being criticized or
laughed at, my life would be poorer, and I wouldn't get
nearly as much joy out of the world I live in.
You can make music. It doesn't matter one bit
whether other people like or appreciate the music that you
make-- make it for yourself and your own enjoyment.
Make music that talks to you, that makes you feel whole,
that brings a sense of balance and flow to you.
Music is a beautiful tool if we use it, and it can bring
much brightness and hope to our lives-- as long as we make
it somehow.
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