Some people think music is pointless, or that it is just lyrics and rhythm. To me, however, music is more than just notes. Music is the way I communicate how I’m feeling and how I cope with my emotions.

Music has been there for me when people I have counted on haven’t. When I’m up at 2 a.m. trying to wrap my head around my thoughts, music always comes through. The headphones I wear as I walk the halls have been one of the ways I make it through every day. My headphones have seen it all, and the best part about them is they can’t leave. Most people think if you have headphones in, it’s because you’re being anti-social. Being withdrawn or “anti-social” is seen as an incorrect way to deal with problems, but that is the only way it works for some people.

The lyrics from certain songs help me deal with how I’m feeling and help me communicate with the loved ones in my life. Lyrics written by Mac Miller in “Missed Calls” to “See You Again” by Tyler The Creator help show the highs and lows of my life.

One of the best parts about a song is when I randomly hear it in a store or on the radio. It can instantly take me back to a specific time in my life.

“If we bump into each other. On a crowded street. It’s not us no more. It’s just you and me” by Marc E. Bassy always makes me think of the times I drove around with my friends, when we were screaming at the top of our lungs. “But you’re lying, lying. To yourself, that he’ll find help. That he will change to someone else. But you’re broken on the floor” by Isak Danielson takes me back to when I was going through a hard time with a friend. Every time I hear that song, it reminds me of this person and the effect they had on me. Music is the thing that will always be here for me, even if that person isn’t anymore.

Each and every one of us has different ways to make it through the day. Every person has different ways to cope with their struggles throughout their life. People should not be judged for how they cope with the unmanageable situations they have been dealt. Society should never make someone feel like the way they cope is “fake” or the “wrong way to deal with it”. Everyone is different and should never have to feel stupid for trying to show how they feel, even if it isn’t expressed in a conventional way.