Music is everything in our family.

It all started when I met my soulmate in college. He played guitar, and I was hooked—line and sinker. Determined to learn guitar in Guinness record speed, I had my rock star guy teach me how to play Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton. Then I spent a month bloodying my fingertips until I mastered the chords. This was a telltale sign of what was to come.

When our three kids came along, guitar playing was introduced into the family dynamic. Our littles loved hearing us play. Early on, my beloved mother-in-law gifted us her baby grand piano. Although none of us knew how to play at the time, twenty-three years later, the keys are well worn from years of use by four of us.

Our oldest son started piano lessons in kindergarten that lasted only a couple years. But, when all three of my kids were teens, they gravitated toward the piano on their own and self-taught themselves into beautiful pianists. Now I am playing after having started an online course six months ago.

As for guitar, my husband taught two of our kids to play while in high school. Both have since mastered the instrument on their own. My daughter (@pure_kahrin) is now a budding solo artist in the indie folk genre and performed her first paid gig earlier in the year, pre-pandemic.

It doesn’t stop there either. All three compose music, write lyrics, and sing. Our middle son is establishing himself as an EDM musician under the name Richfield. Our oldest son has been working with a producer and developing his first piano piece for the past year.

So, when I say music is everything in our family, it’s not a dramatic statement. We have a music room in our home filled with countless instruments, and the moments we spend together in our family jam sessions are otherworldly. I can’t describe what it does to my mom heart every time I hear my kids playing together or my husband rocking it out with them. Now that I am playing the piano, I can join in the mix in new ways.

But more than the pure joy of making music, the act of creating continues to be a form of connection and healing for all of us. Like most families, we have our demons. We tend to love hard, which sometimes leads to fighting hard. So, when words fail us during our challenging times, music speaks. No matter what strained undercurrents are flowing between us, the act of coming together and making beautiful melodies tends to be a welcome cure.

Not only does music help us as a collective, but all of us find tremendous healing in playing our instruments. Music is a form of meditation and takes us to another dimension of reality. Where we can get lost in the beauty of sound, free from the stresses, strains, and worries of life.

I, for one, am a music junkie in general. There isn’t a day that goes by that doesn’t include music, whether I’m playing or listening. Music stirs my soul like no other. It’s a universal language we all speak. Something about it draws us together and reminds us we are all one, doing our best to harmoniously live this one life we’ve been given.

So, yeah. Music is everything in our family. And I also believe it’s everything for humanity. A gift we’ve been given, and I can’t even imagine a world without it.