That afternoon, the ability to not just feel joy but show joy and share it with others was music’s most profound gift. Music was the energizing force that allowed us to feel, express, and connect. The piano chords ignited neurons that greased the nervous system and allowed dormant muscle fibers to fire. Physical stuckness softened, then stretched into the embodiment of joy—sometimes in sweeping gestures, face lifting, arms raised to the sky, and sometimes in more subtle movements, the corners of the lips reaching upward.
