Why do we like music?
Ask yourself, why do you like music?
Probably because of the way it makes you feel. But it can make you feel many things — sad, sorrowful, jubilant, inspired, calm and collected. You can explain this up to a point, but those you are explaining to need to have some concept of these feelings to understand your love of music.
How do you describe to someone what music is? How do you describe Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma or the spectacle of Beyonce?
Just the same, explain to me why you laugh.
Funny… can it even be explained?
In day to day life, we enjoy laughter and music for their own sake — we rarely use them to get to some outcome.
And it is foolish to ask, ‘who makes music, the composer or the instruments?’
You will study the instruments and watch them as they make noise. You will note that the composer is nowhere to be seen, that the composer is not touching the instruments nor conducting the musicians.
There are some wonderful insights that come through neuroscience, but no final answers. Looking into neuroscience alone fails to take into account the composer…
They each play a part.
When you’re in a Room, you might fully explore that Room. At some point, you will have seen all that Room has to offer, meaning there is nothing left to discover in this place. Your journey can only go on once you open a new Door.
I can talk to you about music all day, but at some point, I would have said as much as I can possibly say about it. The only thing left for you to do is open the Door and experience it for yourself.
Our words are just signposts
Our words are just signposts, trying to point the way. But at some point, you will find an end signpost, the last thing that can be said. That is the point where you have fully explored the Room. Now it’s your time to open the Door.
Before you take a new risk, a new chance, or a new opportunity, it’s natural to do all you can to control the odds, to find certainty.
How can I be sure my new venture will succeed?
How can I be sure he/she will agree to go on the date?
How can I be sure I’ll be a good parent?
How can I be sure I’ll like the move?
How can I understand this more deeply?
But those who seek certainty will not take risks. They will not open the right Doors, because you cannot be certain what music is before you’ve listened to music.
And no one can really explain it to you.
They can just point the way.
At some point, known as the end signpost, there’ll be nothing more that can be said.
You will have to open the Door.
