Do Re Me... and how it effects my life

Commercial jingles. Christmas carols. Popular music. Music is everywhere surrounding us in today’s society. It is so prevalent that it can change a person’s culture, even their very being. My life is so affected by the music that I hear and listen to, that it can be used as a grand narrative to describe me as a person, and how I think and do things

Looking back at home videos, my childhood was riddled with children’s songs and rhymes. I could go on for hours and hours singing these little songs. As I got older, my parents signed me up for piano lessons and what do you know, I was learning Mary Had a Little Lamb and Chopsticks. As time went on, I needed… more. I distinctly remember asking my Dad one day, “Daddy, can you show me music with electric guitar?” The music he showed me was slightly disappointing. I don’t remember what it was, but it simply wasn’t electric enough. After that disappointment, I entered my pre-teen years. For most of 5^th grade, I was a huge Hillary Duff fan, and listened to a lot of her music. I moved from Illinois to Minnesota after that year, and started listening to KDWB and popular music. That was great for a few years, but then I entered my angsty years, and got into hard rock and metal music. I thought finally I had found the electric guitar that I was looking for all those years. But, I got through that phase and here we are now, listening to classic rock.

Well, as you might have noticed, I have gone through many phases of music. Phase after phase after phase, I go through all sorts of styles of music. Even in these phases, there are mini-phases. Being able access all sorts of varieties of music, I almost have developed this docile body that craves variety fueled by an ability to be impulsive. This explains a lot of my body practices. I develop and break addictions at the drop of a hat, on everything from tv shows to food. Because I let myself use the variety of music, this gets echoed onto other parts of my life and I allow myself to indulge in every whim. I also cater my every move to do things that I like to do, things that bring me enjoyment, like, in the sense of music, I listen to music that I like and want to listen to. The specific phases can also tell other parts of my life, too. Listening and singing children’s songs is echoed to today, where I can say almost every lyric of a song that I have listened to once or twice. With my obsession with Hillary Duff, I now memorize little facts about people that are not very important. As you can see, music can explain parts of my being very well.

So, that’s my grand narrative through music. I have listened to many types of music and have a lot of phases. Through every phase, I have developed body practices that make up my very being today.