Written by Zach Rahed

Music is like magic. It is everywhere. At parties, at church services, and on city streets we are apt to hear music. Fundamentally, though, what is music? Yes, it can be a blend of vocals, instrumentals, rhythm, and/or melody etcetera but it is also something much more. It is connected to us in ways that elicit positive changes in our mood and well-being. There’s a profusion of studies to back this up. It can heal, in a supernatural way, not just the average individual but also the mentally ill. Music, in short, is the elixir for all mankind. Let it always be our doctor when we are unwell. Let music be forever what American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called: “The universal language of mankind.”

There’s many types and genres of music. Too many, in fact, to name. Suffice to say, most if not all music has the potential power to lift us up out of a cold and dark, down-hearted place. Music can be a tremendously uplifting catalyst for people afflicted by a mental illness. In one study published by the American Music Therapy Association on Schizophrenia and psychopathology it showed that characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia were greatly reduced in just three months by implementing what’s known as music therapy.

Music therapy sessions involve the performing of music, listening to music, or discussing music. It is usually used to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and/or social needs. Performing or listening to music, as is recognized scientifically, activates many structures in the brain that are involved in thinking, sensation, movement, and emotion. Once the structures are activated, neurotransmitters are released producing emotional reactions, memories, and feelings. Simply put, music moves us. The creator of sound—a magician.

In another study showing music’s meritorious wizardry, a group of people were told to read a list of words and then recall them by memory. Half of the group had been selected to listen to classical music while reading the words. The other half were not. The results showed that those who were given music to listen to had an easier time memorizing the words.

Music is poetry. Each song a separate poem. Music is also within us and without us. It can change perspectives. It can transform lives. I can’t imagine trying to live life without music. What-a-nightmare! But to think of the universe as an assiduous musician at work, we are the waves of electric vibrational energy resonating through time—All time and space a turbulent yet beautifully sacred synchronistical symphony.

Text © Zach Rahed