In “SIR DUKE”, Stevie Wonder sang <<Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand. With an equal opportunity, For all to sing, dance and clap their hands.>>

What’s not to love about this sentiment? Music unifies and brings together — without reprisal or judgement. It encourages expression through movement and lifts you up. Our home is filled with music — Jeremiah’s playlist raises my street cred, and he and Sofia love to move to XBox Dance Party. Impromptu sing-a-longs range from  “TWINKLE TWINKLE” to Shakira’s “SHE WOLF” all the way to Sofia belting out a show tune learned from her grandparents. There’s nothing like seeing her head thrown back as she whoops ‘…deep in the HEART of Texas.”

Bringing music in to the activities she’s doing has always increased her enthusiasm for the exercise. Working on heel-toe stepping may see us incorporate the “HOKEY POKEY” so we’re singing “You put your left heel down, you keep your toes up, up…”

I’m convinced that she has Katy Perry’s “ROAR” on a loop in her head, and there’s a joy and lightness in her when she sings “…Don’t believe me, just watch” from “UPTOWN FUNK”.

I think about music and Sofia’s soundtrack as a cape of character strength that arms her with a lyrical vocabulary of positivity.

The songs she listens to and identifies with reinforce that her true self, her best self, is manifest not just in how she moves or how she looks when she’s moving — but THAT she moves.