I shall sing

I have been doing reflections of my life of late. I am feeling grateful that playing music has been a part of my life for quite a while.

I realised that particularly during my undergraduate years and the first couple of years after graduation, my life had its fair share of lots of ups and downs. The down times had been tremendously dark and depressing at times. Those were humbling experiences, I suppose? Having survived those times have somehow made me be more sensitive, thoughtful and empathetic when I meet people who are going through difficult times in their lives. Perhaps the dark and challenging times are there for some purposes? They test and they strengthen a person's character.

During those many dark and challenging times, playing music provided a therapeutic outlet for me. Since the act of playing music requires concentration, focus, and involvement, I was taken away from my personal challenges to the imaginative and empowering world of creating music. The duties of playing for concert, of rehearsing for concert gave me a short-term goal to work towards when there were times when I didn't even see any light at all at the other end of the tunnel. So I trudged forward, and here I am, still here. Thankfully, there is music in my life.

I am not a particularly auditory person, so it is strange that music is one of my faithful companions. Sketching has been my companion too. If you were to look at my lecture notes, they were filled with sketches and doodles. The outlet to express myself is probably a life-giving one?

Recently, I have been challenged where health is concerned. While I doubt it is life-threatening, the pain and discomfort induced from the recent spells of cough and flu had got me more in touch with my own mortality. One can be so fragile that one can't even predict with accuracy when one may be robbed away of one's health and life.

Strange as it may seem, when I put my heart and soul to sing tunes (without lyrics though) that ran through my mind, it helped to soothe the feelings of pain and discomfort that I have. It is afterall possible to cope with challenging health situations.

So for the next couple of weeks, I think I would probably continue to sing. To sing aloud even in public places: on the trains, on the streets, in the parks and so forth. Lend me your understanding hearts please. Then I shall hope to delight you with the simple pleasure of the tuneful music that I shall hum. I shall sing.

This is a positive post, I hope. For I hope to remind myself and all that even when times get very challenging, and may seem dark, there are positive ways to cope. There are ways to cope that may even bring delight to others, even during one's darkest moments. Thankfully, mankind has discovered art and music.

Thanks for the kind strangers and friends who have also came into my life at various points of my life. Allow me to sing for you from the bottom of my heart.