The Meaning of Music

Among many other things, music is known to relax and help reduce stress. I was thinking about this earlier today, and realized that it helps me concentrate as well. When I do my homework for example, my mind tends to wander off and think about things unrelated to the problems I am trying to solve. This tends to be a problem because I get really unfocused and my homework ends up taking twice as long. When I am listening to music, for some reason my mind is concentrated on listening and focusing on my work, so I get it done quicker. Along with this, music helps me relax and calm down when I am having a bad day. I have talked to friends about this and they agree and find the same effect. I decided to look on the internet, and see what others thought about this concept and researched. I typed into google, 'music relieving stress' and immediately 123,000 hits came up. This just shows that it is not something that teenagers do to calm themselves, but doctors, teachers, and scientists use this all for the same reason. After doing some testing, experts figured out that the beats in the music are what helps to alleviate this stress, even though most people are unaware of that. Using music to calm ourselves is something that can be tracked all the way back to when we were in the woom. Listening to your mothers' heart beat is the rhythm that calmed you down before you were born. Having this as a basis has caused us to be more attracted to music and the feeling that it gives us.
What I found most interesting, was that there is not one type of music that is soothing for everyone. Most people would think that soft, classical music is the most calming, and heavy metal would be one of the least types of calming music. This is not the case, but the type of music most calming depends on the individual person. It is proven that the music most appealing to a person, is the kind that calms and relaxes them the most. For me, country music is the most calming, not real country, but the Taylor Swift kind, that is not real country but classified as that. My favorite music that I listen to are songs from camp, mostly this "country" kind. It's partially upbeat, but still slow and calming. Listening to the songs I learned from camp jog my memory back to how much I appreciate camp. It brings back the memories associated with each song and just how much I would like to go back. This music relaxes me and puts me in a great mood, making me want to listen for days end. That is almost the only music I listen to, and I have even showed my friends some of this music and they enjoyed it. In fact, as I am writing this blog post I am listening to camp music. This music helps me get through hard times, and even when I am in good moods just strengthens my happiness.

http://www.holisticonline.com/stress/stress_music-therapy.htm

On Top of the Glistening Lake

If any of the girls at camp were asked what their favorite activity was, almost every single one would respond with water skiing. No matter what size and age, everyone at camp can waterski and there's always a new trick to try. We can do anything from going on two skis, to slaloming, to trick skiing, to holding the ski rope between our toes, to holding it out on one foot, to jumping off a three and a half foot ramp. I have tried almost all of these, and the more tricks I try, the more I fall in love with this sport. Camp is the only place that I get to waterski, which makes it all the more special.
The feeling I get while waterskiing is something very hard to describe. As my ski is drifting on top of the water moving in and out of the wakes, a sense of freedom emerges. I think about all the things I can do with my life, and how lucky I am to have all the opportunities that I have. Looking at camp from the lake is a gorgeous site. There are birch trees everywhere I look, there is green grass being mowed by the camp director's father with kids running through it. I look at all the girls playing on the waterfront; swimming, canoeing and kayaking. I realize that this is what I look forward to every year and how much fun I am having. I now look on the blue dock and see all my camp friends and counselors talking, laughing, having fun. As the white sea ray boat turns to go back towards camp, my body relaxes, waiting for the drop into the ice cold water. I come in off the boat and all my friends cheer for me, congratulating me on the new skill I have just completed.
Luckily, I get to ski at least once a day, maybe even twice. This same routine happens every single time, putting me in the best mood. This seems like something small, lasting for only a couple of minutes, but the feeling I get after lasts for so much longer. Just thinking about it now makes me smile and remember everything that happened this summer. My friends and I like to double, both of us skiing with two different ropes on the same boat. When doing this, even though it can be problematic, is one of the most fun things at camp. Not only am I doing my favorite activity, but also skiing with my best friend right beside me. We can switch ropes, drop one of our skis, and even ski on the same pair of skis! Laughing and singing the whole time while doubling, is one of the greatest opportunities I experienced at camp this summer.

The Best Place in the World

I was assigned to blog about a topic, anything, in particular something that interested me. The first word that immediately came to my mind was camp. If you look up summer camp in the dictionary, you get a site where care and activities are provided for children during the summer months. To most parents, camp is getting rid of their kids for the summer so they can spend the peaceful summer without children. All of this is true, but to me, camp is so much more than that. It is my favorite place on earth, something that I would give my life for. There are the traditional activities such as tennis and archery, waterskiing and swimming. Although fun, that is not what camp is about. Camp is the everlasting friendships and memories made with the girls in your cabin. These friends become much more than friends, they become your summer sisters. I know I can always count on my sisters for support, advice, and trust, even when we are not at camp. Throughout the years we have gotten so close, I know them better than my own family. I cannot stress enough the importance of the friendships made at camp. I keep in contact with them all the time, and we talk daily. Because of this warm environment that camp offers, I can truly be myself around these girls. This is why these friendships are so important, and that's what makes camp so special.
The opportunities at camp are endless, even after going back for so many years. I have become much more of an independent person, gone for two months every summer. I have tried and learned to excel at so many activities I would have never been able to at home, like waterskiing and wakeboarding. There is no other place where you can walk down the hill and be on a sparking blue lake, just waiting for you to jump in. Nowhere else is there as much competition in games and activites, even against your best friends. The camp director and his wife become your summer parents, acting like they have known you your entire life. I am so fortunate to get the oppourtunity to be able to be gone the entire summer away at camp. I wish everyone in the world got this same chance so they could experience the same greatness that I do. Camp is the most beautiful place, the green trees surrounding the campsite and the blue lake glistening in the sun. I would give up anything to stay there year round.

Check out the camp website: http://birchknoll.com