“Ah, music: a magic beyond all we do here!” -Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

On my first day of band in 6th grade, my teacher wrote the above quote on the board and told us that the first person to guess where it was from and who said it would get a prize. I knew the answer, but I wasn’t the first to shout it out, so the prize (a metronome) went to a saxophone player.

Music is certainly magic. Sometimes it inspires you. Sometimes it keeps you awake on long drives. Sometimes it helps you fall asleep. And sometimes it tells you the truth you need to hear.

A few of the songs that have fulfilled the last quality:

Life is Beautiful by Vega4

When You Come Back Down by Nickel Creek

Save by The Rocket Summer

Brave by Josh Groban

Your Hands by JJ Heller

For Good from “Wicked”

Free to be Me by Francesca Battistelli

Word of God Speak by Mercyme

Hold Me Jesus by Rich Mullins

But music can be a distraction. It can cloud what you need to see about yourself and/or certain situations. Silence can be overwhelming, but sometimes it shows you who you really are.

I was taking a short hike this morning in a local park and I passed two girls who were playing music on their phones that was loud enough for everybody else to hear. I get the need to have music as a constant presence because I tend to surround myself with it, but I believe hiking or enjoying the outdoors should include only those of nature.

Those who believe that immersing themselves in nature means only encountering silence haven’t really listened. There are a plethora of sounds to be heard: birdsong, the wind, leaves rustling, grass, or perhaps tall flowers, whispering, water trickling. Even the noise of your feet hitting the ground or making a rock skip can be music.

So… something to pay attention to the next time you go out of your door, take a walk, or a bike ride: the noise… or rather, the music. Because music isn’t only created by cords, notes, or voices. Because music is powerful magic.