I Hear the Power
What do you hear?
What do you remember?
When a beat comes on, what do you think of?
What tune might be you be caught humming?
Music. I’m talking about music.
One of the arts I admire the most is music. There are many reasons for that but one is that I am not the most talented musically. I do not have a great voice, cannot play any instrument extraordinarily well, and cannot harmonize well.
So, I admire the people who can do any of those or all of those three things.
But, I love music. The reasons that I listen to music though are probably quite different from those of others.
Music is a source of entertainment for me, sure, but it is much more than that. I love a lot of music, a lot of styles of music. But, I don’t often listen to all styles. I feel as though I am much more selective.
Now, I love classical music, I appreciate good piano-based music. But, that is not something that I listen to often or regularly. I like it, yes, but I still do not even often listen to it.
What I do listen to often is Hip-Hop/R&B.
There are numerous artists within this genre that I tend not to listen to and I’ll go without naming them. I just don’t appreciate their style or value their music.
The people that I do listen to though motivate, inspire, and share their trials and triumphs.
I don’t like to listen just to listen. Some of the people that I listen to most frequently grew up poor, without hope, and struggling. Now, they are able to share their strength, their focus, and their successes, with their fans.
I love that.
I love hearing music that teaches me something. I love hearing music that keeps me focused.
I’ll share briefly about the other genres of music I listen to regularly. One other is Christian music. I love Christian music too. I love music that fills me. I love music that allows me to focus on the things that I care about. I love music that encourages and uplifts me.
I start my morning almost always the same way. With my headphones in.
I rotate a series of songs. I have a playlist of 5 Hip-Hop/R&B songs coupled with one, two, or three Christian songs also.
Along with the morning routine that I have, this music grounds me for my day.
The gratitude list is always first but then, after that, I put my headphones in.
The first songs get me started and centered. By following the first song with my prayer journal, I take to God, all that is on my mind and on my heart. I focus on what I want to accomplish during the day and throughout the upcoming week and listen then, sometimes pausing my music for complete silence, to hear what God has to say.
Once I’m finished with my morning prayer time, I turn the music up and get back to my motivational and inspirational lyrics.
I focus on my long-term goals and write them down in the journal I keep.
The music gets me going. The music centers me.
Then, I move into some other things like my workout and ensure that the most difficult part of my day is in the morning, on my terms.
Music that I choose to listen to empowers me, it strengthens me, and gives me examples of other people that have made it through, that have achieved great things.
That is the focus. My choice music is not meant to entertain me but is meant to motivate, inspire, and teach me about the trials and triumphs of others.
I like music for these reasons, and others also.
It is an art form, a very impressive one. But, it is a source of energy for me. Mental energy and physical energy. Music pushes me, because I choose to allow it to.
In one of the most frequented songs for me, Big Sean’s Voices In My Head, he says,
“Voices in my head said I’m used to it
Some help me to lose and some help me maneuv through it
When I talk to myself I’m confused on who’s who it
I know in life you either blow it or blew it
And at the end of life it’s gonna feel like you flew through it
I just hope by then I cut the voices in my head”
We all struggle with things that’s for sure. The music I choose to listen to is not just a way to keep me energized. The music I choose to listen to is a way to stay high, a way to overcome the voices in my head. We all have voices in our head, but, as he says in an earlier verse,