Music In My Soul

By Kathy Koches

 

music on my soul

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”Plato

Music has always been a part of my life.  From my birth, and even before, my mother would sing to me.  I remember her soft, gentle voice, soothing my childhood fears and sharing joy and wonder with me.  We sang as a family, silly songs, religious hymns, Christmas carols, and I learned all the words and melodies.  One of my favorite quotes is from J.M. Barrie, who wrote Peter Pan:  “If you cannot teach me to fly, teach me to sing.”

Another of my favorite quotes is from Maya Angelou: “Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.”  One of my favorite pastimes as a young girl was to dance.  Besides the ballet and tap lessons, I used to shut myself in the living room, turn on the hi-fi and dance for hours to my father’s classical music records.  My father had no sons, just two girls.  My sister enjoyed sports, so she and my father would go to ballgames and sporting events together.  But my “special time” with my dad always involved music.  We would sit quietly and listen to music together, and sometimes he would take me to a concert or ballet.  I remember going to the Hollywood Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater, many times with him, and being swept away by the music. 

“You have to take a deep breath and allow the music to flow through you.   Revel in it, allow yourself to awe.  When you play allow the music to break your heart with its beauty.”  Kelly White

Growing up I sang in my church choir, learning to read music and sing harmony.  “Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.”Khalil Gibran  It surely did that for me. 

“Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can’t.” —Johnny Depp  When tragedy struck me, I realized that I could escape, even if just for a few minutes, in music.  “People haven’t always been there for me but music always has.” —Taylor Swift 

Music can calm your soul.  “My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.”Martin Luther

As a young woman, I traveled to Germany and discovered another truth about music and myself:  “Music is the universal language of mankind.”Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  It was through music that I first was able to communicate in my new home. 

When I first met my husband, Bob, one of the things we discovered we had in common was our love of music.   On our first date he serenaded me for my birthday, and then took me dancing – an auspicious beginning!  “Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens.”  —Maria von Trapp  And so it was.   “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.”Victor Hugo

We joined Vancouver USA singers and the UU choir and sang together for 20 years before moving to Mexico, and we were fortunate enough to give concerts in many other countries.   One of my most cherished memories is singing in the music room of Neuschwanstein Castle, an opportunity not afforded to most people.  “Music is the great uniter, an incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common.”Sarah Dessen

Music is an integral part of my life.  “Ah, music!  A magic far beyond all we do here!”J.K. Rowling   I enjoy listening to many types of music and have been fortunate to join Los Cantantes del Lago here in Lakeside.  “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”Arthur O’Shaughnessy

And so I say to everyone, in the words of Friedrich Nietzsche, “Without music, life would be a mistake.” William Shakespeare, in Twelfth Night, put it succinctly: “If music be the food of love, play on.”

I cannot imagine my life without music.  To quote Kurt Vonnegut:  “If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:  THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC.” 

And in the end, may the words of Rob Sheffield ring true:  “When we die, we will turn into songs, and we will hear each other and remember each other.”

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