Dust in the Wind is a beautiful, haunting song I have been listening to for most of my life. Until recently, however, I had never truly ‘heard’ it. My mother suggested we listen to it a week or so ago, and for the first time I found myself paying attention to the lyrics, the instruments, and sound of this man’s voice. It changed me as a person. The notes of the guitar made my heart feel ridiculously light, I fell in love with the passion in his voice, the gorgeous strings of the violin transfixed me, putting me under a spell of emotions I knew, yet never realized I was experiencing. From that moment on, I sought to have a new relationship with music. Reflecting back, I believe my enthrallment can be best described in the song Finally Moving by The Pretty Lights.
At the point of having this experience, I was feeling stressed and overwhelmed by my new academic and social life. I felt dragged under the water by not having enough time for everything I needed to achieve. What cried out to me first in this song was the lyric “all your money won’t another minute buy”. I realized the pressure and frantic confusion I was encouraging in myself, was stupid, and that I was destroying my life. For the first time I can remember, I became the single most important thing in my life. I understood that what I was trying to accomplish was there to help, not harm me. I loved “everything crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see”. My focus turned inward to myself, and I isolated what was important to me: deeply feeling and experiencing. I valued attention to detail. Living in depth became important to me.
Whoa, I was immersed in revelation, all because I took the time to listen to a song. Finally, ‘being in the moment’ and ‘being in the present’ made complete sense. I suppose I had understood them before, but gave them no value, took the advice for granted. Really, I don’t think I understood what they meant. I thought I was in the moment, I was in present. This event showed me clearly I wasn’t and hadn’t been since I was a small child. This makes me wonder what else I think I embrace, but in reality am only grazing on the surface… I realized the message of Realize It by The Dirty Heads.
On a new path 