I had every intention of finding the perfect quote for this blog from a book, just to complete my cheese-fest that was the last two weeks. However, as I was watching Dawson’s Creek on TBS one morning I heard this line and just knew I had to use it. It embodies everything that music is; at least for me.

I’m going to start this blog off by telling a little story. Just the other night I was catching some late-night Wendy’s with a long time friend from high school and, as usual, our conversation turned towards John Mayer. His new CD has been in circulation in our CD players before Continuum was even released and his music just speaks so clearly to us. Talking about music for us and the effect it has on our every day life is extraordinary.

Without music, we feel trapped inside a world of silence that we don’t relate to. Music is not only an outlet– it’s a way to live. It’s life lessons and the quarter life crisis and going with the flow and not trying to stall the inevitable growing-up process. All of this comes, for us, from one man’s music, words and thoughts.

We sit in the car and debate music. We talk about meanings, tones, variations. We relate everything to life and how his CDs have followed us through the years. We talk about how Continuum is definitely a fall CD and how Dashboard Confessional’s Dusk and Summer defined our summers. I couldn’t believably write the conversations we have into a story. It doesn’t seem real and yet every time we hang out I sit next to him amazed at how music can make you feel everything and nothing all at once.

Picking lines from songs to explain the significance of music is really hard. I almost don’t want to do it, but I must. To pick the lines, I looked around my room and at all the quotes, and my eyes immediately rested at a sheet of paper that got me through this summer. I made a soundtrack to my summer at my job. It had 11 songs, one for each week. I’m not going to give you all of them here; I’ll just provide a few examples of lines that have become my personal mottos.

First of all, I have to use a John Mayer quote after that introduction. With Continuum still running through my head, it is hard to think back to Heavier Things, but the quote is just suiting. Understanding this line is essential for college students.

“And if you never stop to wave goodbye, you just might find if you give it time, will wave hello again.”

In life, we leave so many people behind without realizing we might never see them again. I left LaSalle University after the Spring 2005 semester with every intention of going back in the fall. I decided in the middle of that summer to come to St. John’s. The people I knew at my old school never got a real goodbye, we simply parted ways. This line has become a staple in my life now. People leave your life all the time but if they are meant to be in your life, they will come back around. This is what Mayer is saying. Life is like a wheel. It’s a cycle, and if you wait it out things always come back around.

The next quote from Semisonic is one I try to remember during hard times.

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.”

This line says more in nine words than some people can say in entire novels. I think back to my transfer again and see how true it is. My start at SJU ended the beginning I had at my old school. Even in relationships this quote works. If you join a sorority or fraternity, you are ending a part of your life and beginning a new one. When one love leaves you hurting another story is beginning. Every end brings a new beginning and vice versa. Always trust that things will get better; it might take longer than you want, but eventually, things always turn around.

The last line I want to mention is something everyone should live by. It’s actually a theme song to a popular teen soap opera.

“I don’t wanna be anything other than what I’ve been trying to be lately.”

Gavin DeGraw hits a soft spot with this line. Be proud of who you are right now. It might not be who you are later but, without this part of your life you’d never get to the future. Every little thing that happens in life, every phase you go through, it adds up and if one part is missing then you end up with a different sum. Some people are always going to give you a hard time and there are inevitably going to be people who don’t like you, but live by this line and it won’t matter what other people think.

I’m going to leave you with two lines to consider, two things it took me a long time to understand and appreciate.

The first is from Kelly Clarkson: “I never thought it’s hurt this much to be sane.”

And from Howie Day: “Even the best fall down sometimes.”

Listen to music and see what it has to offer you. It might be more than you think.