On Music

Last night (yes, about half a dozen hours after finishing chemo at USC), I went to a concert at the Palladium. I saw a great British indie-folk band called Mumford & Sons. Their music is beautiful -- a well-played banjo and cello really adds such depth to a normal guitar/keyboard/drums ensemble. Their lyrics are even more beautiful -- mainly about love and loss and growth, and truly earnest. I'm not going to lie -- I teared up many times as I felt the energy and passion of their music flow right through me. So invigorating.

I made a decision last night -- concerts are a must during the chemo process. That means I gotta get on the internets and start searching for some shows.

I've always known that music is incredibly therapeutic, particularly for me since I am so crazy about music in general. I can pretty much listen to anything, and I'm passionate about a wide variety of artists -- from old school hippies (Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez), to the king of rap music (Tupac Shakur), to a whole host of female vocalists (Sarah McLachlan, Norah Jones, Fiona Apple, Stevie Nicks), to Radiohead, Antony & the Johnsons, Elton John, etc. I also love the theme song to The Golden Girls and have been known to belt it out on a daily basis.

So far, music has been totally helpful during this whole process. It gives me an extra boost of energy and confidence -- in essence, it supercharges me (and I'm already pretty charged). For example, before I got wheeled off to the operating room for my first surgery, as the nurse was taking one last vial of blood, I was bumpin' some serious Lil' Wayne in my hospital room and feeling more confident about the procedure than anyone at Good Samaritan was, I'm sure. Also, about two days after surgery, I started dancing (and haven't really stopped since) on the way to the bathroom when my iPhone inadvertently started playing a 50 Cent song. (For those of you who don't know, Lil' Wayne and 50 Cent are two titans in the hip hop world -- you should probably check them out. I'm quite partial to Lil' Wayne. He's adorable.)

But there's really something about hearing one of my favorite bands play their incredible music live that really moves me. It's like my heart just fills up to the brim, then does the same to my eyes. Every now and then, I try to choke back the tears, but usually not. It's dark in most venues, anyway. :)