Music's power

Music has been an important part in developing human culture since music was first
created. It is an element that is known in all society and drives many religious celebrations.
Music has the power to expand the mind and possibles in the human spirit. It has been
researched and discovered how music can be a medium of communication between people
from all different backgrounds. It is a language that allows all people to be on the same level of
society. This language is created from feelings that transfer into tone, melody, and rhythm.
Everyone has their personal structure on how they interoperate this musical language but it is
that interruption that creates the communication. These interaction become culturally embedded
into the time they are received and how they are responded to. How people respond to the
music is something deeply rooted in that person and is known to be at least partly due to
genetics. It is the most natural language humans use.

Music is constantly changing, just like fashion, slang, politics, the economy, and different
fads. Usually these changes are connected in some way. Music depicts the time it is created in.
The lyrics show what is important and relevant while the melody gives a look into the overall
feeling. Plato said that the purpose of the arts was to helps shape emotions, and to instill
passion. 

It has been shown in research that music has developed from natural sounds in the
environment that humans began to recreate. Sounds and rhythms patterns were first repeated
in very simple ways. Many animals in the world have been observed creating music or
something sort of sound with a rhythm. Birds are probably the most well known for their musical
talents. Monkeys have also been known to beat on hollow logs to create a call and response
sequence. If it is believed that music is defined by intentional emotional manipulation produced
with vocal or instrumental sounds then music emerged between 60,000 and 30,000 years ago.

From Home to Home- A Story From Dublin

Cars speeding by brought me back to where I was, in the middle of Dublin. Quickly moving along the streets, following the group of students that had transformed into photographers. My eyes were guided by our leader Fionán to be set on the unique character of my surroundings. Purple screws in the doors, surprising abstract architecture, vibrant orange growing out of the dull sidewalk, and contrasting ideas, were all the subjects I focused on.

The day was warmed by the sun, the streets were glistening with the permanent cover of the rain. Excitement was dispersed into the air from each student learning to see things in a brand new way. We passed a fenced in black-top area with broken soccer nets, where graffiti covered the walls on either side. Cigarette remains, bottles, and glass lay along the street. We turned onto the main street in the village, called Meath Street, it was alive.  Meath Street is full of character, that depicts a timeline formed around struggle. Everything from meat, to fruit, dresses, wigs, and postcards, could be found right here. What you couldn’t find on the street, could be found around the corner or a back alley. The village displayed Christmas tree dedicated to those who have died due to drugs and violence in the area.

While searching for details through a lens, I saw a man is a vibrant blue jacket, who had interacted with the group previously, was standing at his local produce store setting up his oranges. I stopped to say hello to him. His charisma was an instant magnet, he just made me smile. I was photographing his profile, totally engulfed in his blue eyes, when he asked me where I was from. I told him the Boston area. Immediately he stepped back as if  a burst of joy moved him. He explained how that is where his father was from. I was filled with emotion from his reaction of recognition to my home. I could tell the city means a lot to him in making up his being.

This is why I have come to Dublin, for the connection; my great grandmother who shares this mans hometown and my home town that is shared with the man’s father. This man brought that connection to life in full force and fulfilled my one wish I had coming to Dublin. I wanted to sense a connection to my ancestors from experience there homeland. I wanted to have real experience of the bond between Ireland and Boston that have I heard of all my life.   He felt like a familiar old friend right away, I knew he felt the same way. He asked to take a picture with me.

Dublin Is Up For Interpretation

Dublin is unconditional
Dublin is a clever Grandmother with an authentic sense of humor
Dublin is a call and response
Dublin is a decoded language
Dublin is a spark

Dublin is carrying around a secret only heaven knows
Dublin is the wheels not the track
Dublin is constantly wandering off on an endless adventure
Dublin is leaving the past right where it is with more heart than before

Dublin is an endless leather bound book hidden in the back of a small library in an even smaller cafe
Dublin is sun on a string begin dipping down
Dublin is where I learned to not take things too seriously, where I and the people refused to settle for plan B, where the people march on

Dublin is awareness from the inside out
Dublin is where I have had my sights set