DOES MUSIC CHANGE US?

“Without music, life would be a mistake” – Friedrich Nietzsche

I was reading some Plato the other day, and came across some lines where he wrote:

"Then, I said, our guardians must lay the foundations of their fortress in music?"

Then a bit further down I read:

"our youth should be trained from the first in a stricter system, for if amusements become lawless, and the youths themselves become lawless"

Music is such a powerful tool sometimes. It can alter the way we feel and how we are interacting with our environment.

Music envelops our surroundings. Every product has its theme song, every movie with its background harmony to enhance our experience. We listen to melodies when we drive the car, clean the house, or get in some exercise. Maybe some even listen to Classical music while they study or read.

This entrapment of vibrations can heighten our emotions. Make us feel more profound with the joy of the moment, or help us dwell in the sorrows when a string of time needs to be felt for just a while longer.

The power of music is astonishing....

Check out a couple other Blogs to learn more:
https://blog.bufferapp.com/music-and-the-brain
http://www.consciouslifestylemag.com/music-and-the-brain-affects-mood/

But if I could refer to music as a form of amusements. What do we, as a society, consider to be of laws or rules with this amusement.

I enjoy all forms of music and the entertainment it can bring to me. I love how I can use music to work better or ease a bumper to bumper drive. And I use all different forms of music to bring about different emotional states.

I may use classical to study, techno to workout, or some pop to have a reason to dance preposterously. Each different style helps amplify or even cultivate the emotional vibrations we experience.

I would assume that we do things of this nature unconsciously sometimes. Unknowingly putting ourselves in intensities and interpretations. We can do this all too often.

At times, I've allowed sounds and melodies to become habitual in my life. Certainly affecting the way I am going about my day and interacting with my settings. These emotional states can become addictive during occasions.

There are even cases of people with severe Alzheimer's that have clear memory recall when listening to music they enjoyed in their past. Theses tones created altered paths of neuron interaction in the brain that helped recreate the memory. It put them into a joyous state and they were more talkative, interactive and social. Having better memories and more governing over their immediate surroundings.

That seems to have great input and direction in relation to how the brain works and functions in any given moment.

So, are there certain mandates we stick to when it comes to this version of amusements. Because we know how music can make us feel. There are documentaries showing people engaging in lost memories through musical administration.

That means that every vibration, word, and tone from the music is essentially heightening your thoughts and emotions towards a certain result.

Now I tend to ask the questions more often, "Why am I deciding to listen to music? What type of music am I listening to? & How does this music usually affect my emotional state?"

By taking a few seconds to ask things such as these, I make smarter choices more often to help me inflict a more positive mood or state of well-being.

During the past 6 months or so I have greatly decreased and even somewhat eliminated music I, at times, may have been listening to daily. So I can't help but wonder what type of music do we choose to govern ourselves and the effects it may have on our mindset.

I don't suggest we get rid of any particular type of music. Because everyone has their own style and their own forms of soul sounds.

But maybe we view these amusements as a tool for ourselves and create our own laws and rules to decide when a tool of such kind is needed or not. Maybe considering for a second if these sounds, tones, and words are needed or just desired at this time.

All too often we drift off from the current moment we are in. Sometimes we are daydreaming while folding laundry, or thinking about what to eat when we arrive home after traffic.

Lots of these times we are not even paying attention, let alone considering them and its message for us. These melodies are repeating in the background with words and messages to help us, or possibly to hinder us if we don't keep our awareness on what is actually occurring around us.

Remember a keen law that everyone should abide by and it could even be considered of high priority.
Is what that's happening right now around me, good for my soul? 

We all need to keep sight of who we want to be and what we need to do in order to keep us at our highest level of spirits. There are lots of distractions around to keep us entertained or should I say amused.

So I pose the question...

If music affects our brains and emotions. Would the wrong type of music make a just person unjust, and if that be true of the opposite, would the right type of music make an unjust person just?

-RA BAR