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“Empowerment to me is a feeling. A feeling that fills your heart with excitement and anticipation. I personally feel the most empowered when I’m playing or listening to music. No matter what mood I’m in there’s a always a song I can find that I feel a connection with and that always amplifies whatever I’m feeling. Headphones are a sweet tool because it’s almost like a secret with yourself, people can see me walking with a straight face but inside I’m getting really pumped up. Sometimes you don’t even know when a song is going to hit you in some special way, for example, one day I was feeling particularly down and I was walking and pressed shuffle on my music, Rage against the machine, “killing in the name of”, followed by Black Sabbath “war pigs” and all of a sudden I just felt this burst of energy through my body, and a lightness in my chest that I hadn’t felt for awhile. A very “Aha!” moment for me.
What is is gosh darn beautiful about music is that there’s literally something out there for everyone. You don’t need to be a musician to experience it and there’s so many genres these days that there’s something that can make anyone feel empowered. Playing music is a whole other level, just like anything that someone has a passion doing! It’s so much fun working on a song that you’re really excited about learning, that you feel is perfect for your range and you can just belt out without much thought. Getting to share it with people is special because you get to say “hey I’m proud of this and wanna share it with you.”
I try to help friends feel empowered by just being there and listening. Sometimes people don’t expect you to have all the answers, but just want to unload some thoughts and feelings. I also think compliments can go a long way. You can tell when someone has put effort into something, whether it be a project, work, art, or something with their appearance. When you take time to get out of your head and take in what people are doing and saying around you, and making a meaningful contribution to the conversation or passing on a simple compliment, it can make them smile and feel good about themselves. It’s all about love and realizing that everyone’s just down here trying to navigate the best way they know how, with the tools they’ve learned. Everyone is different so it’s important to always take that into account and try and not judge people, because you’re judging them through your lens and your experience, not theirs. ” -DES