Since before I can remember, no exaggeration, I have been captivated by music. Even being so extreme as to learn how to crawl and open doors as a toddler just so that I could interact with it more. Over the years, my attitude towards music hasn’t changed, even if my tastes have. I firmly believe that music has the power to both shape oneself as an individual as well as support one’s mental health.

The power of music is echoed by the numerous quotes about it up to now. Some, specifically Friedrich Nietzsche, going so far as to say, “Without music, life would be a mistake.” Although I’m not sure I am as intense as Nietzsche, I honor the notion. Had I not grown up with music holding my hand all along the way, I’m not sure how I would have matured. I listen to hundreds of songs from many cultures around the world and experiment at creating my own music every month. After all this time, I can only think of music as an extension of my mind, permeating all of my thoughts and actions. It’s almost redundant to say, at this point, that music is something without any form or shape and yet affects every culture and person more than anything else we encounter.

Through my family I have met many musicians well into their senior years still be sharp minded and talented at their respective instruments. Some as old as their eighties still travel between cities and perform at any chance. That is incredible! How do they do it? I believe it’s in the power of music. Somehow this strange substance with no form motivates people to such exceptional actions. I know of a few of these senior musicians who have dementia. And as sad as it may be, it’s almost as if it doesn’t exist when they express themselves in their music! Even now, with my firm belief in the power of music, it amazes me how such a remarkable thing can be so ingrained into every single person and yet so many of us take it for granted. Due to my own experience with how music somehow connects us all and my dream to grant it visual depiction, I could not believe in a world without the power of music.