"Life is like an art masterpiece, and yet so few stop to enjoy it”
-unknown author

If your life was a painting, what would it look like? What colors would prevail? Would it be abstract, impressionist, realistic, pop art? Is it still life or is it a defined image with a subtle background?

True, we may not all be Van Goghs and Picassos but we all hold the paints, brush, and blank canvas necessary to manifest out deepest expressive and conceptual intentions. motivated and stirred by our (and even possibly others) daily occurrences, we have the ability and talent to craft striking works of art with our individual strokes and shades. Every day we create new knowledge, skills, and experiences to attach to the final masterpiece.

It’s your challenge in life to make sure that the ultimate piece is as you see fit; if you’re not pleased with what you see on the canvas at this current point in time, it’s up to you to spice it up with something innovative and brand new, or to tone it down with some more subtle ‘tones’. You’re in command of the limitless color selection and styles sporadically splashed or meticulously streaked across the palette. You decide what actions to take, what hobbies to entertain yourself with, who to associate yourself with, and what experience you will pursue. Such choices will lead you toward the finishing work of genius you aspire to fashion.

Oftentimes, you don’t have any clue what the end result will be; and frequently, you’ll get aggravated at the process of finding what you hope for, what you deserve and what you really want. As a little word of relief though, don’t fret…no one honestly has a true clue of what we are doing. All you can do is enjoy the steps, frolic along the always winding paths, savor every experience, and take pleasure in ‘painting’ your masterpiece. As Danny Kaye once so brilliantly advised, “Life is a great big canvas and you should throw all the paint on it you can.” And if that’s not enough to hearten you, always remember, "...godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come" (Timothy 4:8).

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

~Berthold Auerbach

Medics regularly claim that music can be a powerful healing aid with patients having any given issue ranging from depression to cancer. As stated by Cheryl Dileo, a professor of music therapy and director of the Arts and Quality of Life Research Center at Temple University in Philadelphia, “Music therapy is an evidence-based practice that can affect changes in physical, psychological, social and cognitive domains.” So does music really have the ability to touch us on a deep, subconscious level, and heal us in ways beyond how any physically medicinal treatment ever could?

Well since 1944, when its current form developed in the United States, music therapy has been researched and studied and many times over has proven to be a noteworthy mood-changer and reliever of tension and stress, functioning on many levels at one time. It is the medical and evidence-based application of music to achieve individualized objectives and to establish a healing relationship between patients and professionals. It has been shown to improve motor skills, social and interpersonal progress, cognitive growth, self-awareness, and spiritual enrichment. It is now considered an official health service categorized with occupational and physical therapy. Music therapy offers a chance for a reprieve from pain, anxiety and stress reduction usually accompanying sicknesses and disease, helps create positive transformations in both mood and emotional conditions.


Countless professionals propose that it’s the beat of the music that has the soothing effect on us even if we may not be entirely aware of it. Experts point out that when we were babies in our mothers’ wombs, we most likely were influenced by the heartbeat of our mother. We react to the calming music at later phases in life, conceivably relating it to the secure, comforting, protective atmosphere of the womb.

One of the initial stress-fighting changes that occur when we listen to a song is an increase in deep breathing. With this, the body's fabrication of serotonin also accelerates. Music has been found to decrease heart rates and to encourage higher body temperature - a sign of the beginnings of relaxation. Merging music with relaxation therapy has become a much more valuable tool in the world of medicine than simply exploiting relaxation therapy or medicinal treatments alone. As John A. Logan said, “Music's the medicine of the mind.”