*QUOTES & KEYZ*

*Experience has taught me that a man who has no vices has damned few virtues"
-Abraham Lincoln


"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
-Maya Angelou

"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.
-Naguib Mahfouz

"I will speak ill of no man, and all the good I know of everybody"
-Benjamin Franklin


"If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving one be me."
-Unknown

"To build may have been the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day."
-Winston ChurchHill

*THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC*

Music is probably one of the greatest gifts of my life. I can't imagine a world without it. I think my DEEP love for it developed as early as Jr. High (perhaps earlier). I can still remember laying by my tape recorder...rewinding my favorite song at the moment over and over and over. I admit that alot of the time I was probably crying as I listened to it, over some boy who didn't like me or even worse...a boy who didn't know that I existed. (Bless my braceface heart haha) But even then...I found that music was a healing balm. Even some of the sad songs brought a sense of comfort and understanding to what I was going through at that moment in time. They seem to say the things we don't know how to say and express those things in a VERY powerful way.

I always joke around about how great it would be, if every special moment in our life had background music! Wouldn't that be great? Both good and bad times. Perhaps it would be a little something like, John Cusak, in the movie "Say Anthing". There he is holding a boom box over his head...and blaring "In your eyes". That's so classic! So many people love that moment in film history because it really IS powerful. There ae also those moments when you come across a song you haven't heard for ages and suddenly your transported back in time and this flood of emotion comes over you. You suddenly remember a person or a place...a good experience or a bad one. It has been and will be a part of everything we do in this life. It just somehow works that way. Like I said before, it is powerful. I love this quote by David O. McKay;

"We do not have any thoughts that cannot be expressed, either in words or gestures, but there are feelings in the human heart which cannot be expressed in any language or words; so we must provide ourselves with other mediums of expression; for instance, music, art, architecture-the wonderful arts which do not belong to any nation, but which speak the language of the soul. Music is international. Although the words may be Polynesian or Italian or German or English, music is always understood by the soul."

I'm in love with all kinds of music. (excluding metal:) For those who think my music taste is "Stuck in the past"...your mostly right. :) But now and then I do come across new music that I like. I usually find it in interesting ways. A recommendation of a friend, a movie soundtrack, walking through a book store...etc. There is nothing better then finding a new song that FITS exactly where your at and what your going through. I sincerely believe that is one of the ways that God speaks to me. There have been so many times that a song will come at just the right moment when I needed a little something from heaven. I have also found that "I" can use music to help others. Sometimes I will be praying for a certain friend...and a song will come to my mind. I will then go and usually look up the lyrics and find out later on that they fit what that person needed to hear and their situation. I also love that I can use it to make them laugh or just lighten their burdens. It's such a great gift we are given.

On the other hand...music and lyrics can work against us and bring us down or into darkness. There are times when I have heard a band or a song...and have just felt the life sucked right out of me. Music that encourages anger, hatred, despair, inappropriate and disrespectful thoughts towards both women and men, and no value for the human life. You have to always be aware of the impact it can or is having on you. A great book that discusses this in further detail is, "Making the music decision" by Jack R. Christianson. There is no sugarcoating in this book. Very straight forward and BOLD about how music affects us. (I think you can still buy it...if you can't find it, check Ebay:)

I guess the moral of this blog, is that music is wonderful. And I truly love it. I'm grateful for all the things it brings me as I saunter through this life.
P.S. A recommendation for some new music for you, is a group called "A fine frenzy". Their page is in my friends list. It's really beautiful and even better in person. (I saw them last week in Park City)