--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had my dysfunctions, but music gave me…" description: "\"I had my dysfunctions, but music gave me peace and joy. I never felt in tune with the world. My parents always saw me as an artist, and that greatly in..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/626/meredith-brooks-11639_art_i-had-my-dysfunctions-but-music-gave-me_2810098.jpg" --- # I had my dysfunctions, but music gave me peace and joy. I… ![“I had my dysfunctions, but music gave me peace and joy. I never felt in tune with the world. My parents always saw me as an artist, and that greatly influenced me. My art was my autonomy.” quote by Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/626/meredith-brooks-11639_art_i-had-my-dysfunctions-but-music-gave-me_2810098.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/626/meredith-brooks-11639_art_i-had-my-dysfunctions-but-music-gave-me_2810098.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/626/meredith-brooks-11639_art_i-had-my-dysfunctions-but-music-gave-me_2810098.jpg) > “I had my dysfunctions, but music gave me peace and joy. I never felt in tune with the world. My parents always saw me as an artist, and that greatly influenced me. My art was my autonomy.” [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Music provided her peace and joy, countering feelings of being out of sync; her parents’ view of her as an artist fostered autonomy through art. **In simple terms:** Music gave her comfort and independence. Key Takeaway Use art to find personal freedom. Themes self‑expression healing family influence Mood reflective hopeful Type personal motivational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal songwriting - family discussions Key Concepts autonomy emotional resilience creative identity Questions to Reflect On - What role does family perception play in your art? - How can music serve as personal therapy? A Different Perspective Art may not always translate to external validation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Autonomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autonomy/) [Dysfunction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dysfunction/) [Dysfunctions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dysfunctions-2233725/) [Dysfunctions Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dysfunctions-music-3513955/) [Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt/) [Greatly Influenced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatly-influenced-2000182/) [Influenced Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influenced-art-3513956/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Music Gave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music-gave-1255462/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Peace and joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace-and-joy/) [Saws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saws/) [Tunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tunes/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Dysfunctions can occur in each of the self-regulatory subfunctions-in how personal experiences are self-monitored and cognitively processed, in the evaluative self-standards that are adopted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-bandura/dysfunctions-can-occur-in-each-of-the-self-regulatory-subfunctions-in/) [Albert Bandura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-bandura/) > [After living with their dysfunctional behavior for so many years, people become invested in defending their dysfunctions rather than changing them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-goldsmith/after-living-with-their-dysfunctional-behavior-for-so-many-years/) [Marshall Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-goldsmith/) > [My parents always saw me as an artist, and that greatly influenced me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/my-parents-always-saw-me-as-an-artist-and-that-greatly-influenced-me/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [“The majority of dysfunctions that arise and entrench themselves in our lives are caused because of preconditioned expectations and assumptions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ly-de-angeles/the-majority-of-dysfunctions-that-arise-and-entrench-themselves-in/) [Ly de Angeles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ly-de-angeles/) > [Why is it that here in the United States we have such difficulty even imagining a different sort of society from the one whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/why-is-it-that-here-in-the-united-states-we-have-such-difficulty-even/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [Families just have so many secrets and dysfunctions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/families-just-have-so-many-secrets-and-dysfunctions/) [Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/) > [“There is often a great difference between what we want and what we think we want, and this is complicated still further by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-markham/there-is-often-a-great-difference-between-what-we-want-and-what-we/) [Ursula Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-markham/) > [“I've probably put my 10,000 hours into writing, but I believe writing well is also greatly influenced by certain intangibles like mood and inspiration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-loguidice/i-ve-probably-put-my-10-000-hours-into-writing-but-i-believe-writing/) [Bill Loguidice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-loguidice/) > [My uncle Buddy MacMaster is one of the greatest fiddlers Cape Breton has ever produced, and we've produced a lot of them! 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Burman and Sudhin Dasgupta, and I took it as a challenge to bring back the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeet-gannguli/i-ve-been-greatly-influenced-by-the-music-of-r-d-burman-and-sudhin/) [Jeet Gannguli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeet-gannguli/) > [I must admit to being greatly influenced by Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-spinrad/i-must-admit-to-being-greatly-influenced-by-joseph-campbell-s-the/) [Norman Spinrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-spinrad/) > [My parents were born in 1906 and 1907. I think the experience of the Depression greatly influenced the way they thought about the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-yellen/my-parents-were-born-in-1906-and-1907-i-think-the-experience-of-the/) [Janet Yellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-yellen/) > [I was greatly influenced by one of my teachers. She had a zeal not so much for perfection as for steady betterment-she demanded not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-r-murrow/i-was-greatly-influenced-by-one-of-my-teachers-she-had-a-zeal-not-so/) [Edward R. Murrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-r-murrow/) > [The United States has been from the beginning greatly influenced and primarily influenced by the Judeo-Christian system of values.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dobson/the-united-states-has-been-from-the-beginning-greatly-influenced-and/) [James Dobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dobson/) ## More by Meredith Brooks > [Every emotion that I had over the last three years pretty much had to be put on hold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/every-emotion-that-i-had-over-the-last-three-years-pretty-much-had-to/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [Mackie is an electronics recording company backing me, and they're willing to invest giving equipment to schools that I choose, and they've already started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/mackie-is-an-electronics-recording-company-backing-me-and-they-re/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [When I lived in Seattle and Oregon, we partied, which is a large reason I don't know drugs or alcohol now because I saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/when-i-lived-in-seattle-and-oregon-we-partied-which-is-a-large-reason/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [I had a very sexual experience onstage once. 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I live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/i-think-if-you-re-doing-alcohol-and-drugs-the-chances-of-you/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [“So take me as I am This may mean You'll have to be a stronger man Rest assured that When I start to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/so-take-me-as-i-am-this-may-mean-you-ll-have-to-be-a-stronger-man/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [Stop thinking you have to go to big industry to have a big life, because it's not the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/stop-thinking-you-have-to-go-to-big-industry-to-have-a-big-life/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [I quickly learned to take anger and use it to motivate me. My sister ran away from home, and she was my world. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/i-quickly-learned-to-take-anger-and-use-it-to-motivate-me-my-sister/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [You don't realize 'till you get here what a moment in history you're a part of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/you-don-t-realize-till-you-get-here-what-a-moment-in-history-you-re-a/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [Everything I'm doing now is something I did before, only it's bigger now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/everything-i-m-doing-now-is-something-i-did-before-only-it-s-bigger/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [A long term goal is to encourage students to start doing concerts in which I or the other artists will come back at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/a-long-term-goal-is-to-encourage-students-to-start-doing-concerts-in/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) > [I've come up against a few challenges. 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I don't really like generic lyrics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-brooks/i-like-my-lyrics-to-feel-conversational-and-truthful-as-if-we-re/) [Meredith Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) [Explore all 59 Meredith Brooks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-brooks/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. 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