The Attempt - Music Series, part one

Recently I was chatting about music with my friend Kris, and he encouraged me to do something I have always assumed I was incapable of doing. I had just downloaded a new album on iTunes, and he asked if it was any good. I had only listened to a few songs in the car, so I said I would have to give it an attentive listen that evening to get a better idea of what I thought of it. He asked, "What is an 'attentive' listen?" As I prepared to answer his question, I experienced the familiar difficulty I have when trying to explain my relationship with music. It's like asking me to solve a trigonometry problem; I get that deer-in-headlights thing going on, where my eyes open slightly larger than normal and my mouth drops open just a little, and then I stare into space just long enough to make anyone in the vicinity wonder if I've lost my lone marble. I have never, ever been able to adequately describe the role music plays in my life, how it really makes me feel, or why it is so important to me. I always come away feeling like a frustrated child wanting to stomp my feet and whine, "Wait, you don't really understand!" It sort of makes me feel like I must be the only person who feels this strongly about music. Obviously that's not true; there are a lot of people in the world who are passionate about music, and it would be arrogant of me to think that I am the only one who feels the way I do. But, man, talk about a difficult thing to describe. Even if I had better communication skills, I think I would still have trouble with this one. I mean, how do you describe that kind of magic?

I decided to try and write about music. This will be a true challenge for me, but I’m actually looking forward to it. Instead of attempting to fit everything into one post, I’m going to write a series; I’ll be able to break things into narrower topics and I’ll also have the chance to add or expand on things in later posts. Writing this series of posts and trying to express my passion for music is what Kris encouraged me to do. "That is what I want to read about," he said. I had never felt so much support for something like this, something that is very important and personal to me. So I decided to give it a shot, and if I fail to do the explanation justice, that's okay; at least I can say I tried. I’m willing to crash and burn here. But if I do, I’m blaming it all on Kris.