The Mind or The Soul

There is a responsibility that comes with making a choice, especially if that choice is a tiebreaker. One that would determine the fate of a group of people. To say that whatever befalls that group rests on you in the aftermath of the choice you made is an understatement because in reality, whether or not someone else is directly responsible for the failure of that group, the fact that you sealed the deal with your choice invariably makes you the reason behind that failure or success, as the case may be. This is why I was incredibly delighted to read this week’s prompt in the Hive Naija Community.

Between the production of music and movies, which would my tie-breaking vote be on to be eliminated? First off, was this choice a tough one for me? I will be honest. Absolutely not. I don’t think I contemplated it past three seconds. Not because I don’t value the one I didn’t choose or cause I don’t see the necessity in it, but because I just have the one I love more. I would save music with my vote for a few reasons.

The concept of movies shares similarities with the concept of books. Movies are a reflection of the ongoings in the actual lives of people, whether reflecting the present, the past or the future. It provides us with the world we live in and in cases of sci-fi, the world we dare to create with our minds. Music, however, reflects the things we don’t see. We don’t see them because it directly connects to our emotions and the life we live. It bridges the gap between the things we currently face and what we would want them to be, imbuing us with reason.

To be honest, it would have been a harder choice if my decision had determined the fates of music and books because they are equally dear to me. So, speaking from a book lover’s point of view, I would say that whatever you want to turn into a movie, make it a book instead. I’m hardly ever satisfied with movie productions crafted out of book productions so I feel that movies have a good or even better substitute in books. Music, on the other hand, has no substitute. You can’t read music like a book. You can’t imagine music. You’ve got to see it and more than that, you need to hear it. Live it, if you please. The sensation it evokes is incomparable to any other thing which is what makes it indispensable.

And then, movies have no soul. That’s a mistake. Of course, they do. I mean to say that movies do not connect with the soul as much as music does. You can hear people say, “That song, that music, spoke to me.” I mean there are some movies that have touched us in one way or another but I’ve come to believe that is momentary, that sublime feeling, temporary. But with music, yes those feelings could also be momentary but I’d like to believe that they last longer in our hearts because hearts were applied in making it in the first place.

Movies is someone who thinks of an event, true or not, and tries to bring it to life but music is someone who lets his heart overflow into his words. It’s like setting your heart bare to the world. It’s way deeper than movies for me. I say this with all caution because I realize that a lot of people can’t distinguish good music, even though I understand that good music on its own is subjective. Still, in this seeming ode of mine to music, I refer strictly to good music.

So, that’s my hot take. I would miss movies extremely and I would stand on the opinion that the world has lost something. But in lieu of the incomparability of music, the emptiness of the entire world without music, I know it’s the right decision that has been made. We would miss movies, but we would survive without them.

Jhymi🖤

_{Image is mine.}