Life and Music - Brian Dalton
It's no secret endurance is important to me. As an educator and consultant, it's my core mission. Essentially, endurance plays a pivotal role in various aspects of life, contributing significantly to personal growth, success, and overall well-being. That being said, music (both listening and writing my own songs) are my go-to when the challenging currents of life make themselves known.
Music has a profound impact on our emotions and mental state, making it a powerful tool for enduring this thing called 'life'. Here's how it can help:
Emotional regulation: Music can evoke a wide range of emotions, helping you express and process feelings that may be difficult to articulate. It can provide comfort and a sense of connection, reducing feelings of loneliness or isolation during challenging times.
Distraction and relaxation: Listening to music can divert your attention away from stressors, providing a temporary escape and promoting relaxation. This can help reduce anxiety and lower stress levels.
Motivation and inspiration: Upbeat and energetic music can boost your mood, increase motivation, and inspire you to keep going, even when facing tough challenges. It can help you feel empowered and capable of overcoming obstacles.
Catharsis: Some people find that listening to music allows them to release pent-up emotions and experience a sense of catharsis. This can be especially helpful when dealing with intense or overwhelming feelings.
Connection and community: Music has the ability to bring people together and create a sense of community. Sharing music with others, whether through live performances, playlists, or discussions, can foster connections and provide support during difficult times.
Memory and nostalgia: Certain songs or pieces of music can evoke powerful memories and feelings of nostalgia, providing a sense of comfort and familiarity during challenging times.
Overall, music can be a valuable tool for emotional expression, relaxation, motivation, and connection, making it a powerful ally in navigating life's challenges.
"Life Before" is one of my earliest tracks. It also happens to be one of my favorites, up to this day. As a composition, it is not very difficult, but I really think this chord structure is quite beautiful. Musically, it's very laid back easy going . . . and this was intentional.
One day I was pondering how healthy and happy Mother Earth may have been prior to humanity getting involved in her business. This led to a number of thoughts regarding Earth's health prior to humanities meddling:
Plastic pollution - Nope. That's one of our greatest hits.
Decimated oceans - Nope. We're responsible for that.
Bombs going off everywhere blowing each other up - Umm . . . nope; that's us, too.
Climate change - Hmm . . . nope, that's another of our wondrous creations.
Megalomaniacs - No again . . . those are all human, ego-fragile individuals intent on power, greed and destruction.
. . . this could go on quite some time, but you get the idea of my inspiration. Earth must have been absolutely vibrant and so much healthier without us. It sounds awful to say, but it's true and we all know it. As a species we love to do things without truly thinking about implications. Paraphrasing a line from Jurassic Park: "We were so preoccupied with whether or not we could, that we didn't stop to think about if we should?"
In fact, in a recent New York Times opinion piece by Todd May, the suggestion is proposed, which suggests humanity may lead to its own extinction.
As a professor of philosophy at Clemson University, May states that humans are destroying the environment (shocker) and are a “source of devastation of the lives of conscious animals on a scale that is difficult to comprehend.”
Now, he does recognize our species boundless talent to create art and literature; to chase and capture scientific endeavors, he postulates our capacity to alter the one planet given to us, which will lead to our own downfall.
Essentially, as a species, we might want to wake up and realize that this is our one shot. This thing called "life" is not a sitcom; there is no rerun option (at least not in this realm of existence). I believe our younger generation is waking up to this notion and offers us a glimmer of hope. The best thing we can do is to provide them the latitude and resources needed to right this ship NOW!
So, this thought process (and opinion piece by Todd May) led me to creating a song that simply felt peaceful and more importantly, at peace.
Video - Life Before
Album
"Life Before" can be found on my instrumental album, IV.
*If you need help bringing mental and physical endurance into your work environment, in a unique and motivational way, feel free to contact us and bring New Horizons Global to help you along the journey!
Be on the lookout for Part 2 in this new blog post series from Teach4Endurance!
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