Thank You for the Music

Funny. I have a lot of things to be thankful for, I don't even know where to start.

Photo by Michael Yarish/FOX

Today, among other things, I am grateful to Neil Patrick Harris and Glee. It's Episode 19 of the 1st season of Glee, with the episode titled "Dream On". Let me just say, I have never watched Glee on actual TV. I usually come home late from work, and if I am at home, the TV is owned by either my daughter (who watches Playhouse Disney), or the househelp (who watches ABS-CBN). Sometimes B. sneaks in and gets to watch basketball. So there, I've never actually caught an episode of Glee on actual TV. I don't entirely live under a rock though -- I've caught my fair share of episodes online so I know the show and the story.

So anyway, today I get home almost 10pm, and surprise! No one's watching TV! My daughter's asleep, the yaya's watching the kid, the hubby's drinking with his buddies. Guilt-free TV for an hour.

So...I am thankful for some alone time. And I am thankful for music. For entertainment that moves us and seeks to inspire. Music inspires, it's fun, it's...cathartic, as needed. It doesn't even have to be pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, jazz, death metal, whatever. As long as it suits your mood for the moment, it inspires. Music can make you fall in love, run faster, release your anger and sadness and grief. It can make you cry, plunge you into a deep emotional abyss, and then take you along as it soars through it's own uplifting arc.

I am thankful for music and the ones who have made, written and sang music. Every time you create art, you give a little of yourself. Just like giving love though, giving a little of yourself doesn't make you any less. On the contrary, creating art (just like love) makes you go beyond yourself and makes you bigger than you originally were.

Giving oneself -- whether it's a personal sacrifice, your time, your love, or sharing your gift of music -- does that. It inspires. And at any given the moment, you should always opt to inspire people. Why? Just because you can.

"I'm trading my one dream, for the chance that the 13 of you will have a chance with yours." - Will Shuester, Glee