Music in my ears, gratitude in my heart

Most people who know me know that I love music! I listen to music a whole lot. For a lot of people, the default background noise in their homes is the TV. For me, it's most definitely music. Whether I'm listening to one of my Christian Worship playlists on my Sonos home speakers, to Afrobeats tunes through my Airpods while walking or doing the dishes, to Capital FM in the car or to beautiful instrumental music playing from YouTube in my classroom, music is an important feature in my daily life. You could say that it is the backdrop to my day-to-day activities, pretty much like the music in movies. Could you imagine watching a whole film without any music at all? It would be extremely boring, wouldn't it? Any ardent film lover, like my sister, will be quick to point out that the film score certainly adds to the effectiveness of the various scenes and helps to tell the story. It is such an essential part of film-making that many, like multi-Oscar winner John Williams, have made it their life's work to compose beautiful music for cinema.

My love of music is a legacy of my baritone-singing, piano-playing dad, and it goes back a long way, as far back as I can remember. I recall being part of vocal ensembles with my sisters during school holidays, practising with them to perform at a neighbourhood carol concert one Christmas, being in my secondary school choir, and later on in university, driving my roommates round the bend with my record of choice on repeat all day long! I still chuckle when I remember the episode of the missing Anita Baker cassette tape (we didn't have CDs or music streaming services in those days). I was totally obsessed with anything related to Anita Baker. My hairstyle was inspired by hers and I was a massive fan of the petite, crooning legend's music. My poor roommates were so sick and tired of hearing Baker's Platinum-selling second album, Rapture, blaring out of my cassette player that one of them took it upon herself to 'make the tape disappear' by taking it home. Much to my roommates' dismay, I promptly went home to my sister's at the weekend and "dubbed" another copy of the tape!  A few weeks ago, I found it really amusing to listen to my two children reminiscing about all the tunes that were "drummed into them" as a result of being passengers in 'Mum's taxi' all throughout their primary and secondary school days. They confidently belted out tune after tune that they could only have learnt from my binge listening - songs like Jill Scott's Golden, Jeremiah Gyang's Na Ba Ka! and P-Square's Asamkpoto. 

Just like music is always there in the background, the other essential component to the backdrop of my life is gratitude. I practise gratitude. I'm intentionally grateful. I'm grateful for the numerous blessings that God Almighty showers upon me - for my family and friends, for the breath in my lungs (something I have come to appreciate even more since the pandemic), for good health, for my various experiences and the list goes on and on. Almost every day, I am awakened by a praise and worship song, thanks to my Sonos alarm. The 'praise hands' is probably my most frequently-used emoji on WhatsApp, along with the 'smiley kiss'. I am very thankful for the gift of laughter. I smile and laugh frequently; I always say that it's a special gift from the Almighty. The Bible says that laughter is good medicine. Laughter, they say, is contagious. From my own experience, I would certainly agree. Spend enough time around me and you'll find yourself smiling and laughing more. 😁 I also want my gratitude to be contagious. 

I invite you to count your blessings regularly; take note of the big blessings and the little everyday blessings. Thank God for your long-awaited promotion at work and also for the daisies that just appeared one morning in your back lawn without anyone planting them. Always be thankful for what you have and for who you are because you are unique. There's no-one else on Planet Earth that is exactly like you! In one of my past blogs, I shared how I have kept a journal for many years. I write down my CMBs (Count My Blessings) every month and whenever I look back through my journals, I'm almost always overwhelmed by the magnitude of God's love for me. Practise gratitude. Write down your CMBs and then thank God for them.

Till next time.

Much love,