On Music

While waiting for my corn dog to finish cooking, I figured I'd jot down a few thoughts about music. First, there are few things that compare to music. In fact, this is the first problem, music is not a thing. What is music? What constitutes the emotional existence that occurs with the creation and enjoyment of music? How can we define simply the effect of the act of making music? It has been purported that we call the full experience of making music, listening to it, watching it, etc. should be known as "musicking." This would be an apt name for the total action and experience, but although it now has a name, we are no closer to any firm definition of just what music is. Music can be used as a tool, or it can be the most profoundly moving aspect of one's daily life. The act of making music must be among the highest virtues possible for a human being. However, it does not always live up to it's potential. People cannot always actualize their potential any more in the area of music than in any other area. It takes a special skill to fulfill the possibilities promised to any one person, and a certain set of circumstances to achieve this most divine state. However, we can glimpse this acme of human experience occasionally, just not consistently. It's these glimpses that give us reason to practice, and to persevere past the frustration, the lack of time. It's these glimpses that fuel the obsession.