The motivation to continue on a positive path can often come from music. This is especially true when days get rocky. Music provides a spectrum of emotions mirroring the present reality — it has no filter. Music calls out to the senses.
I’m not sure about you, but my mind usually operates like a race car. Thoughts run about and collide until a migraine takes their place. I have spent many moments post-migraine in the bathtub listening to compositions — from instrumentals to heavy rock. The option of sinking into despair has been enticing, but when one of my go-to songs like Rob Thomas’s “Someday” begins, it’s like a friend is talking me out of the hole. As the song continues, my heartbeat falls in sync and the tension fades — leaving only calm.
I have never been someone who easily digests my feelings.
Instead of sitting with them, I would pace, binge, and do whatever necessary to keep a wall up. This game of distraction would only get so far until it brought me back to those feelings.
One moment that sparked change was hearing the song “I’m Still Here” by the Goo Goo Dolls. I had heard the song years ago in cinema, but as I was curled up crying, ready to throw in the towel , the lyrics hit me. They formed a mantra, a reminder of connectedness to the now. I am one listener, and there are thousands, maybe even millions, who listen along, clinging to music as I do.
Music is not something of wizardry. It does not place a bow in life tying up frayed ends.
It empowers and validates thoughts floating in unsettled minds while building connections outside of our comfort zones. When I have rough days where hiding beneath the covers and sinking into hibernation presents itself as comfort, I reach for my iPod and press play.
Inspiration does not hit instantaneously, but it gives the gentle nudge out from my hiding place. The reasons I have great appreciation of music are the messages “you are enough” and “I understand.” Pressing play starts the reflective process for listeners to travel through themselves, allowing feelings to surface.
Songs and playlists carry on in my mind when I am happy or afraid.
They play when I am irritated or at peace with the moment. Past experiences can haunt someone forever if never accepted or allowed to be put to rest. It is easy to forget each person has the ability to let it all go, not because what happened didn’t matter, but because the individual is worth more than being distorted by bitterness.
Let the music take you into reflection.
Your feelings won’t break you. People chip, but despite all the horrid things experienced, they do not shatter. We steadily continue on, turn up the tunes, and take comfort in moments of honest emotion.
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