By Author’s Note: I apologize for my absence and lack of blog posts lately. My immediate family and I have been dealing with a lot and helping with that in any way I could had to be my priority. Circumstances are more settled, now, so expect blog posts to be much more regular. Thank you all for understanding and for your patience. ~Stacey
I do not know if I have mentioned this previously, but when my muscle tone spikes as is common with my type of CP (spastic). I have to bring my tone back down to more manageable levels. If I do not, my muscles stay tight and the tight muscles cause me pain. I have various methods to bring my tone back down to more manageable levels. One of those is listening to music. What kind of music you ask? Rock music turned up loud. For some reason rock music soothes my mind and body so I can calm down and reign my tone back in.
Bon Jovi is one of my go to bands on my rock playlist. My first experience with a Bon Jovi song was It’s My Life. I immediately wanted to know who sang that song. I liked the music and the beat of the song as much as I liked the lyrics. Instantly connecting to that song was effortless. It made me happy. It still does. A few years later, Have A Nice Day became another song that I had a visceral reaction to. As soon as I heard that song for the first time, I knew I wanted to get familiar with Bon Jovi’s entire catalogue. That is exactly what I did.
As time went on, I found more Bon Jovi anthems I love: We Weren’t Born to Follow, What About Now, This House is Not For Sale, Living On A Prayer, Bad Medicine, and many more. You will not only find me rocking out to Bon Jovi on days when my tone is spiking. You will find me rocking out to their songs when I am stressed or having a bad day as well. Having those songs played loud definitely puts a smile on my face no matter what is going on in my life. Those songs bring me joy on days when joy is difficult to find. Knowing they do the same for countless others around the world reminds me that we are more connected to our fellow humans and have more in common with them if we will just look for those connections and commonalities.
I got a chance to see Bon Jovi live in 2017 with my mom who is also a big fan of the band. We had a fantastic time! I got to destress in a way that only live music can provide. I call music my medicine often, and it is very true. If Jon Bon Jovi and his band tour again (his voice willing and able) and they come to a town near you: go if you are able. You will be glad you did. I wanted to write this blog post as a thank you to John and the band for all the music that they have gifted the world (and still are) and explained to them why their music means so much to me. In addition, I wanted to write this blog post to let you all into my head and get to know me a little bit better. It is my belief that when someone allows you to understand the music that moves them and brings them joy, they are allowing you to really see them for who they are. That is the case for me.
