Day 18: Music

Ana’s post inspired me to think about music and its importance in my life. I’m not driving like she was, but I am sitting in the back of a Lyft on my way home from a doctor’s appointment, and I’m listening to your second mix and the songs that already wrap me up in a hug and make me feel nostalgic for this present moment, holding onto it with all my might.

I’m lucky to have grown up not just around great music, but with a father who is a musician. My dad taught himself to play guitar when he was a kid. He never took formal lessons and only learned to read music when he was much older.

My dad is already instilling a love of music in my nephew

My whole childhood was soundtracked by my dad’s acoustic strumming and picking. Whether he was playing a Beatles’ song or narrating what we were doing in the kitchen (do my random made-up songs make sense yet?), music was the backdrop of my life.

I can get into any kind of music, from folk to reggaeton, pop to rock and roll, disco to jazz. But my favorite kind of music is the kind I can sing to. I learned many instruments over the years — piano first, then clarinet, and later guitar — but never stuck with any. My voice is my instrument that never leaves me. It’s not a voice for solos or belting out ballads with key changes (though sometimes in the shower it is). But it’s a voice that can hit most notes, a voice that finds joy in singing along to melodies and harmonies.

Some of my students think I’m weird and some think I’m amazing for singing to them on the daily (thank you, D, for being my backup singer when I’m belting out Taylor Swift). Singing when I’m stressed because they really need to get a move on so we can get to the next class on time. Singing when I’m feeling extra silly, narrating what they’re doing like my dad did with me and my sister and my mom.

“Warning Sign” just came on and that’s how I know this slice is done: because two summers ago, Ana and I sat at the top of the Raymond James stadium and held back tears of joy and wonder and disbelief when Coldplay took the stage. I get down out of the car but the music keeps playing in my headphones.

Pure joy!