I Sing Because I Am

 Yesterday, as I sat in church listening to beautiful music, resisting the urge to sing (which is against Covid rules!), I wondered about why we sing. It seems to be a spontaneous and natural expression of emotion-even very young children have the innate desire to make music with their voices. If you listen to a baby cooing and babbling, it has a very sing-song sound that is a delight to the ears and early language has a fluid cadence that is musical in quality. 

 Singing is a universal language-it transcends language barriers and can bring people of all cultures together in a shared joyful experience. In fact, singing and making music are human expressions that are common to every culture in the world.  The desire to sing is just part of who we are as spiritual beings living together on planet earth. Not only does singing seem to be natural for us, whether we can carry a tune or not, it has physical and spiritual benefits:  

•   To sing fully and completely, you need good breath support. It not only produces good sound—this kind of breathing gives your mind and body the positive effects of more oxygen and more complete exhalation of carbon dioxide. 
•   Unless you confine yourself to singing in the shower, singing means community and interpersonal connection. 
•  When you’re singing, it’s almost impossible to think about other things—the challenges of daily life, for example. You’re focused specifically on what you are doing. Being fully in the present moment allows us welcome distraction from other thoughts, issues, or burdens. Singing brings respite and refocus. 
•   Singing offers the opportunity for mastery, for a sense of learning, growing, and accomplishing.
•  Moving more into the cognitive aspects of singing, memorization uses different aspects of our brains. Singing itself is really a very complex process, involving various areas of our brain 
•  There is the emotional aspect as well: What does the music say, how does the singer convey it, what does it evoke in our memories, whether about the music itself or some totally unrelated memory? Does the music bring us to tears? To joy? To laughter?
•  Song is a form of communication. A lullaby soothes an infant; it communicates “you matter.” (psychologytoday.com)  

I would like to add one more benefit to singing that was not mentioned in the above article: singing is a form of praise that connects us to our Creator in a way that few things do.  We are elevated spiritually by the very vibration and sound of the music that flows from the depths of our own being...it is a form of prayer at the most profound level.  

So today, I challenge you to sing: in the shower, in the car, out in the garden, wherever you happen to be.  Put on some music and sing along; use your voice as a form of praise and prayer.  I'm guessing it will lift your mood and maybe make your day a little brighter.