WP2| Childhood

All throughout my life music has always been prevalent. From playing instruments and singing in choir at school to my parents constantly blasting music everyday at home, music was everywhere for me. My parents introduced me to all types of music. My mom would mostly listen to jazz and R&B music in the car while my dad would have me searching through his CD case to look for R&B oldies. Then, every Sunday I would be exposed to various gospel songs and styles at church. The music during this stage in my life helped me to understand the world around me when I was at an age where everything still felt so new and confusing. The music I would listen from my favorite television shows always seemed to evoke emotions or have a positive message behind it. For instance, my favorite show when I was in elementary school was “Hannah Montana”. This show was the epitome of self discovery and loving yourself. Listening to songs from the show like “Nobody’s Perfect” helped me to create a mindset that its okay to make mistakes. Then following up for even more reinforcement of this message on Sundays with hearing gospel music and its positive messages I was a very confident child. I was constantly listening to music that made me feel something. Music that had meaning to it and every lyric contributed to the overall message that the song was trying to convey. I think that this string foundation of music helped my mental growth more than anything else. Coming home from school everyday or going to school listening to jazz music help set me in a calm mood that I could transition without fuss through the day. Listening to silky smooth voices sing about their life troubles or the positive things occurring in their life through R&B music helped me understand that we all live different lives. It’s okay to go through things and it’s perfectly normal because someone else out there also relates to this. Furthermore, pop music also had a strong influence in my life because it encouraged me to have fun. I was a kid and I honestly didn’t have any troubles or have any major events happen that altered my life so this music reminded me to have fun. To live in the moment while I could because you’re only a child for so many years but you’re an adult for a great majority of your life.