Music Is Magic

I debated whether I would mention my two favorite music apps by name or not, but the truth is a blog “shout-out” is the least I can do considering I don’t pay for premium subscriptions to either one.

And YES, that does mean I wade through a lot of advertisements between sets and playlists.

By the way, that James Taylor concert pictured above was one of the BEST shows I’ve ever attended!

Flipping back and forth between carefully curated daily playlists on Spotify and thumbprint shuffles on Pandora, I listen to quite an eclectic collection of music, including multiple genres from classical to country, secular classic rock to contemporary Christian, soulful rhythm and blues to Indie, and several more musical styles.

What I’ve mindfully noticed lately is how much each new song affects my mood, energy level, and attitude.

To give you an example of a recent randomly shuffled song list for a small sample of the magic filling the cabin of my car on my commute check it out:

1. Calming — Zen We Meditate
2. Night Fever — Bee Gees
3. Separate Ways — Journey
4. Life With You — Seph Schueter
5. One Thing Leads To Another — The Fixx
6. In Case You Didn’t Know — Brett Young
7. Every Breath You Take — The Police
8. A Sky Full of Stars*** Coldplay
9. Art In Me — Jars of Clay
10. Believe — Blessing Offor

What an exhilarating wild ride that playlist turned out to be!

One more thing I have learned in addition to the medicinal mood-altering effects of music, is that secular songs can be highly spiritual depending on one’s mindset when listening.

I’ve also noticed that some Christian songs hit my heart like a bullseye at times — -while other times I will hear the same song, and in full transparency with you, think to myself “This background music is kind of cheesy.”

Once again, it depends on my current mindset, and where my spirit is being moved in that moment.

Perspective is so vital to how we navigate life.

We GET TO choose our mindset, attitude, and the ability to act better than we think or feel in any set of given circumstances.

Silence is golden wisdom at times when sealed lips is the best response to an unpleasant stimulus.

When my spirit connected with the Coldplay song “Sky Full of Stars”*** in a new way today, hearing the lyrics as a worship song to my Jesus…

I realized I would never hear that song the same way I used to again.

Sometimes we say things like “Once you’ve seen it you can’t unsee it.”

In this case, once I heard it that way, I can’t unhear it — in the best possible way!

In what specific ways does music move your heart and soul?

Which songs are on your favorite playlist?

Last night, we tried out a new restaurant called “France House of Crepes” and the fancy latte had a treble [G] clef decorated into the creamy foam on top.

I had already been inspired to write about the myriad magical ways music moves me, but that visual gift sealed the writing prompt with an exquisite taste of Paris, reminding me to embrace joie de vivre!

Want more of this joyful energy? Your coffee helps me create it.