The morning began with a journey through my musical past as I pondered a question posed by a Facebook friend: What are your twenty most favorite albums? Music seemed to rush into my mind as did experiences and places where specific melodies and rhythms brought to life emotions from long ago.

For hours I thought about music and the powerful role it has played in my life…from beginning piano lessons at age seven through a lifetime of relationship with various instruments and of course listening, dancing, living to tunes created by those gifted souls whose lyrics, melodies and emotions have touched me, changed me, guided me.

Art and beauty expressed as emotions…harmonies…rhythms…melodies.

As I reflected on favorite albums I found the melodies intertwined in experiences packed with emotions.  Many revolved around the time I was coming into my own person as a late teen/young adult. I remember an ELO concert that was simply mind-blowing with their laser lights bouncing off the strings of the cello. Or the Santana concert which left me with ringing ears for days…but the power of Carlos Santana’s music was incredible. Finding music that expressed my heart and mind and created joy within me was empowering….was life changing!

Dixie Chicken by Little Feat came to mind strongly. It was a constant at Auburn with pre-football gatherings going into post-game cook-outs. Summers working at Gulf State Park during college years were enjoyed with The Eagles, Allman Brothers, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley. Every album I chose had strong emotional tattoos that will be with me throughout this life, coloring my soul.

Songwriters and musicians take their ideas about life and transform them into anthems for us. They weave words with rhythms, melodies and harmonies that become magic while we sing and dance along, creating our lives. Like the old slave tunes that created musical maps used to navigate escape, music gives us all a map of sorts to living joy-full, soul-full lives.

What does music mean to you? How has it influenced your life?