This morning.

This morning I woke up with a need to paint. I needed to put brush to canvas in the worst way and had no idea why. The piece I'm painting is Puerto Rican Folklore themed so musically I opted for some Latin Jazz. Nothing like a little jazzy Mambo number to get the ideas flowing.

I stopped painting when I heard the music though. My feet needed to dance. And that's exactly what I did. For a couple of hours I spun, kicked, twirled, and danced around until the sweat gathering on my brow started to drip into my eyes. Soon I was so involved that I had a transcendent experience. I saw how amazing my life is and has been. How every little moment in my life has led me to the place I am now. How the friends I have met in the last 35 years are people that I will never lose from my life. I danced and remembered friends who danced with me through my life, and how the rhythms of certain songs take me back to moments with them. How hearing a song that we'd shared can take me back to the scents and feelings of summers past.

I stopped dancing and sat down to think about music. My musical tastes are eclectic - as an artist, I like some progressive rock and intense music - as a dancer, I can get down to anything with a beat - as a Puerto Rican island music sings to me. There is absolutely no genre of music that I can't find the amazing in, even some Miley Cyrus bubble gum pop catastrophe has its place in the universe somewhere. I could never have a party and just hit shuffle on my iPod though. I can picture it now... sitting at dinner and the cast recording of Les Miserables fires off. Worse still, the soundtrack for Aladdin - just picture it. I did a puppet show once with the music from Disney's Aladdin, but that's not what my guests would believe.

Thing is, I'm a happy girl, so I like happy music. I can get down with some deep depressive shit too, don't get me wrong. I just prefer to listen to something that will motivate me, so danceable sounds are often emanating from my stereo. When I get pensive you might hear something deep and romantic... Billie Holiday - Sarah Vaughan - Rosemary Clooney. Then I go off on a tangent and some intricate crazy guitar will come on - Pastorius, Vai, Keneally, Tommy Emmanuel...

I think music is a deeply personal thing, we all don't like the same music - which is why I like to meet people who like things that I would normally not listen to. It grows me as a person. I like growing... like a vine searching out the sun for nourishment - reaching up to grasp the warm light.

As I write this, there is silence in the house. The music has stopped again. I think I might hit shuffle. Afterall, I am in an empty house.