Understanding Life Through Music
Overview
This is my Humanities Moment for the humanitiesmoments.org website. My Humanities Moment is about music and realization.
By Sydney Downard
When my Humanities moment struck me, I was dumbfounded. Being at the young age of fourteen, I don’t think I fully understood the power of music. I knew that I loved music. I knew that I could connect with music. I knew that music had some power over the world, as everyone around me loved music and connected with it also. I just don’t think that I fully knew the profound power of music until this moment.
I was fourteen, and riding as a front seat passenger in my guardian's van. We didn’t have a destination, we were simply just driving around and listening to music through the aux. I had just chosen the song “Wake Me Up” by Avicii and turned to gaze out the window while we were driving. I was relaxed and enjoying the music.
It was then, while I was listening to that song, that I was struck with an overwhelming and paralyzing feeling. I’m not entirely sure what this feeling was, but it was peaceful. I realized that life did not last forever. My breath caught in my throat, and I felt that I was fully in the moment. Up until this point, I guess I could say that I was slightly spaced out. Not just spaced out in the moment, but spaced out to life in general.
It was surreal. Time felt frozen. It was like the world stood still. In this moment I had come to understand something bigger than myself and the rest of the world. It was like I was let in on a secret about the known universe. This feeling was fleeting, and only lasted maybe three or four seconds. However, within these three or four seconds my understanding of life and the universe had changed.
Then, time unpaused, and the world continued to move. I sat there, enjoying the peace, with a greater understanding. A greater understanding that life moves on and death is a part of life.
Then I turned away from the window and started a conversation with my guardian. I continued to be in the moment. I felt rejuvenated. I felt like I was where I was supposed to be. This moment helped to change the way I look at life and death. I don’t fear death. I just live my life one day at a time. I don’t let time creep up on me as much as I let it before. This moment put a lot of things into perspective for me. I know that the song helped me to realize this, and added to my moment of realization.
This moment was surreal. The song, “Wake Me Up” by Avicii holds a special place in my heart. It helped me to have one of the biggest revelations in my life so far. I feel at peace when I listen to the song. I love this song.
Looking back, it’s also one of the reasons that helped me realize the power of music. Music has a way of being relatable in so many ways, and can influence a person to do so many things. It helped me to see the power of music in a way I hadn’t before. This moment helped me have an understanding of life through music.
Works Cited
Avicii. “Wake Me Up.” True, Universal Music AB, 2013. Amazon Music, https://www.amazon.com/Wake-Me-Up/dp/B00F0AIBJC/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0F22ZSVMCQV3TEKK7E1V