Normally I love listening to music while I run because it helps me to run longer, and, well, I'm kind of in love with music.
But today I decided to just listen to the music already outside -- the water flowing in the creek (I'm in Montana at the moment), the rushing wind, the bored-to-death neighbor's dogs that bark at everything, the rhythm of my feet hitting the soft dirt road.
It was so refreshing. It reminded me how important it is to take out my earphones every so often and just enjoy the music of God's creation.
I love the beginning of "August Rush," where August says: "The music is all around us. All you have to do is listen."
But what if our earphones are always on and that's all we can hear?
Putting away the earphones once in a while allows us to hear different kinds of music.
Don't get me wrong. I love how music can help us relax or pump us up.
But recently as I've contemplated different kinds of music beside the music on our iPods, I've come to the realization that balance in our lives is essential -- even when it comes to music, one of my favorite things in the entire world.
Allow me to think outside the box for a moment.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines music as "an aesthetically pleasing or harmonious sound or combination of sounds." So, can't music be any sound we find beautiful? Maybe even the sound of a familiar friend's voice, or a kind hello from a stranger acknowledging our existence?
My freshman year of college, I loved my iPod a little too much. I listened to it every chance I got. But now it's become a personal rule to not have my earphones on when I'm walking somewhere. It helps me be aware of my surroundings and the people around me.
I've met so many amazing strangers by taking off my earphones and starting up a simple conversation while waiting to cross the street. Sometimes I never see that person again. But sometimes I end up seeing them over and over and we become friends. It is so nice to get to know different people. Those interactions are music to my soul. President Thomas S. Monson said, "Often we live side by side but do not communicate heart to heart."
Communicating heart to heart is music to me -- it renews and energizes my soul, just as music does.
As much as I value music, there is a time and place.
So, take your earphones out every once in a while and start up a conversation with a stranger. Heart-to-heart interactions are music in their own way -- the music that is all around us -- if we'll just listen.
