Can art and music change your life?

When I was six, I heard Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat major at my elementary school and fell in love with it immediately. Of course, I didn’t know its title at the time—I was just a little girl, wondering what this beautiful piece was. My parents weren’t into classical music, so I had no way of finding out.

When I saw a piano at school and tried playing it for the first time, I remember feeling incredibly excited. I begged my parents for piano lessons and asked for a piano of my own. The cover image above is a picture of the inside of my longest and dearest friend—the piano I grew up with in my hometown.

Looking back, all the major turning points in my life had nothing to do with my parents telling me what to do. I always made my own choices—or perhaps, art and music guided me toward them.

When I decided to leave Japan, I was eighteen, a high school student. The decision came to me during a choral concert. As I listened to the choir, certain lyrics resonated deeply with me—something about flying high like a bird. In that moment, I instinctively knew: I was going to fly to the USA.

Later, while in college, I was in an oppressive relationship. One day, in my English Literature course, I read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. As soon as I finished it, I thought, That’s it. I need to get out. And I did.

Then, there was the night at Carnegie Hall. A friend invited me to a concert, and I went along, even though at the time, I had no interest in classical music and wasn’t playing piano anymore. Emanuel Ax performed all four Chopin Ballades. I didn’t understand much about these grand works, but his sound and expression moved me in a way I couldn’t explain. That night, I decided to return to music—this time, to study it academically.

I was twenty-six then, and I still believe those were some of the best decisions I ever made: going to that concert and going back to school.

Art and music can absolutely change your life.