Music is everythiing

I get by with a little help from my friends

♫

I get by with a little help from my friends ♫

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What would you do if I sang out of tune?

Would you stand up and walk out on me?

What if I told you I’ve never taken a music lesson in my life, despite nurturing a love affair with it for 3.5 decades, 0.5 of which have been with little eyes and ears watching and listening intently to the soundtrack of our lives — our shared journey across the universe — pools of sorrow, waves of joy, through and on which we paddle and surf to make our way to further unknown destinations all together now. The waves of sound carry us ever onward when we’re too tired to swim or too excited to stop. Music makes the world turn for many of us landlocked souls who strive to chart new territory on the sea to sky’s range of emotion — to explore the briney depths before the starry heights and everywhere in between. Song exists everywhere sound can travel because it’s a way of connecting and celebrating our aliveness; our ability (especially as humans but not limited to) to drum the ear of a friend and take refuge in their thoughts, even just for a moment. It’s impossible not to feel it, not to tap your foot to the beat or hum to the melodies that make up our universal language.

Music is everything. Songs are our stories set to sound, in order to break down barriers between us. To interrupt the buzz of a too-busy life and a long list of to dos. Add this to your list if you like: A trip to Musicland in town, to experience a feeling rather than just check off a task. To restring your guitar or pick up a new instrument entirely; to tell your own tale or rearrange your own notes; to reignite your love of the art or pass it along to your little ones.

I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends at Musicland Amherstburg. Because I always get by with a little help from my friends.

Join me and my kids at Open Stage Saturday, April 27th, 59 Richmond Street at 7pm.

Feel free, because it is and so are we.

DECAF BEFORE DEATH

I got a problem with you lately (hey! oh no!)

♫

I got a problem with you lately (hey! oh no!) ♫

Where the intention goes, the energy flows

They say this in yoga, of course, but also in Instagram quotes I see and self-help TikToks I don’t, but I’m sure of it. I say this even though I haven’t been on my page for months, since being arguably addicted at one point, dopamine all aflutter, laughing at jokes and in-crowd cultural references just “for you!” It was a wonderful place until it wasn’t. Then it started to be the place where I emptied my already-empty cup, feeling like things weren’t as funny or cool because I just felt… empty. I had to stop dumping time into it hoping to justify or revive my sunken cost. And I did stop. And I miss what it was, if it could be that again for me. I could try it again a little if I verify “a little” more or less is okay for me. In moderation.