“We have fallen into place where everything is music…”

This quote comes from a poem (Where Everything is Music) by 13th-century Persian poet, theologian and philosopher Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī; simply known as Rumi. He wrote a lot about love, the dignity of life and the attainment of something beyond our own experiences in daily life and everything in between… I love this quote because it creates a certain rhythm within me when I hear or read it. Music is a subjective experience, which can evoke feelings of happiness, sadness, anger and maybe even confusion. Maybe that is why this quote resonates with me so much. There are many times when music is exactly what I need at that specific moment and all does “fall into place” for me at that point.

I think I’ll have to explore Rumi’s poem more in depth to analyse what else he was getting at. For now, for me, at this very moment, I’m defining myself by the types of music that bring out the best (and sometimes the worst, for good reason) in me. Like a friend once said, “music is therapy.” We tend to gravitate to energy and vibes that are the most positive or in harmony with our own. I’ve grown up through music… whether it was what I heard at home or what I discovered through a friend or through a trip to a local music shop. I lose myself in music only to find a part of me that is most at peace…

Music comes to me in many forms. Live music is an amazing experience, although in this technological age, mp3s are so readily accessible that one can listen to music just about anywhere, anytime. I’m not so sure what liking specific genres or types of music says about a person. Some of us have an affinity for several genres from Classical to house music, to something more experimental, which may combine musical instruments with other sounds taken from nature.

There is such artistry to making music and we are blessed to be able to indulge in such art. There really are no boundaries within music, which is why it is a universal language of sorts. At least, we have that in common with one another. Really though, sometimes no words are needed to communicate with someone else… Enjoying a favourite tune can suffice; allowing everything to “fall into place.”