The power of music

Big disclaimer, all the people that know me for a while know how little knowledge I have about music. So, while i can't talk about the technical aspects of music, i can talk about one thing: feelings and emotions.

This past year has not been exactly great, I felt out of place back in Ecuador, like i don't fit in, i lost touch with some important friendships i had back in london, I lost that feeling of wanting to meet people, star conversations, smile for no reason throughout the day, crack up jokes, to write this blog. It felt like all i was doing was living day by day in the same routine of studying, taking exams, going to class, sleeping and not much else. The friendships i had for the most part were superficial. I used to love going to run for like 10km a day, getting fitter, playing tennis, training football and most of all walking around the city or a park and just being outside. Somehow all that seemed in the past, and i had a sense of emptiness. It got to the point where i even lost the motivation to study as hard as i had in the past, i was saturated.

This last month, everything changed. As any latin american worth his soul i love music because i really like to dance, but music is more than that. It's a memory that a song can evoke whether that would be an event, a period of time or a specific someone. Like straight out of a movie, i was listening to the radio while heading back to my house from university and a particular song played on the radio: Más de ti by Llane. It got me dancing around like i hadn't done in what felt like years. Singing along with the windows down, forgetting about all the troubles in the world. I wanted to sing that song to my crush, it reminded me of how easy it should be to love someone and to feel loved. That was just the beginning, all afternoon i listened to some of the songs in my phone. The one that reminded me of my first real crush in high school, the first song I put on while in the treadmill, the one that got me pumped for my tennis and football games, my best friend's favourite song, the one that i put every time i took the tube to hit central london, the one that reminded me of cuba, the song of my favourite disney movie, of my favourite series, the one i want to sing when i fall in love again, well i think you get the point.

Next morning, it seemed like a whole new world opened up. Before going to university i started to run again, to work out again. Texted those friends that are far away but were very important to me, got back in touch with them, started to go to football practices, left my house to walk around the parks nearby, took a friend of mine to a picnic in the park, sang, danced, enjoyed my life again and it has been like that ever since. I met new people, i cant remember why i was ever so scared of what people would think of me for being myself, outgoing, friendly, flirty just trying to have fun and get to know someone. Listening to those songs like Más de ti, indeciso, bailemos, latina made me ask why did i ever let myself be changed like that? I was never one to feel judged by being myself, to stop doing the things that i love so much to do, to sing on the bus, to dance on the train, to come up to someone and start a conversation, to be shy. I let this city, some of the conservative people around me get the better of me but i was reminded of how amazing life can be, of the good times, of the things that make me happy. I don't know if i am expressing myself well enough to communicate how joyful i have been, of how many times i have smiled just because i listen to a song that reminds me of better times and motivates me to make these times, new better times.

Music is powerful, it can change our life around. For me, it has rescued me from a dark deep hole. So for those of you that need lifting up, listen to some of sabrina carpenter's songs, they are really great actually. I listen to them always on my way to somewhere new and its a heart warming feeling. Just hearing her sing, made me want to start writing this blog again, taking control of my life. The world is full of wonder, you can't spend all your time within four walls, you can't forget what it is that makes you special, you can't forget what it's like to love, what it's like to dance, and specially that the world is full of surprises.