Music is my escape, my ticket out out reality, my therapy to let go of the way I feel. I turn myself over to music and let it consume me. I let it into the deepest inner workings of myself, the darkest places, the basement where I keep things hidden. And as I play or as I sing it takes over, it sets everything free. When I'm performing something even more special happens ; I get to share. I get to share myself with the audience. When I step onto that stage, flute in hand, or climb the risers, wearing my robe, I'm naked, my soul is completely exposed for all to see. My favourite part is when we have just finished the piece and the hall is ringing, the sound bounces off of the sides of the auditorium and swirls around like a tornado before coming back to the stage. That moment when the room is ringing and the conductor still has their hands up, the audience is still and not so much as breathing and everyone can soak in the music. That's what I love the most. When I was in elementary school they taught us to keep our instruments up until the conductor lowered their hands, even at the end of a song, or to stand completely still , even after singing the last note, until told to move. "Keeping the magic" is what it was called and that moment that they taught us to preserve is the closest thing to magic that I have ever experienced. I love making music for the therapy it provides, I love performing music for the magic that comes at the end of every song, and I love listening to music for the escape. Its when I'm listening to music that I work,the best and get the best ideas. When I'm,listening to music I write my best pieces, something about that music makes the ink flow and the page to come alive. I can listen to a concert band or a symphony orchestra and get lost in the crescendos, the grand pauses and the Fortissimos and get reset by the soft pianissimos and decrescendos. I give myself over to the story being told by the rise and fall, by the rhythmic percussion, or by the rests and tempo changes. When the story is over I come back refreshed. Music is what I always come back to, it's the common denominator within every facet of my life. Music is what I have always done: hearing sweet soft lullabies as a baby, singing along with silly songs in cartoons, enjoying music class the most out of everything, joining choir in fourth grade, joining band a year later, turning on the radio first thing when I step into my car, plugging in headphones trying to get some work done. Music can put me back on the right path. It can give me a new perspective when I need it the most. Music sets all the feelings I keep imprisoned inside of me free. Music puts me back together when I am broken, and keeps me whole when I'm going to fall apart. Music expects nothing from me and is always there whenever I need it. Music let's me be the person I have become. Music will always be there for me and will never leave me and for that I am so thankful.