The Power Of Your Playlist
Change Your Playlist, Change Your Life
We all know how it feels to listen to really good music. To be driving home from work on a Friday, flipping through station after station, and to hear the first note of your favorite song.
Music was my first love. When I was a little girl, I remember my mom giving me her old CD player. I remember laying in our shag carpet for days on end, staring up at the ceiling, just listening to music. I remember flipping through her and my dads pile of CD cases, exploring the new sounds, and feeling so excited by it all, and so in my element.
An only child, for the majority of my childhood, I often felt alone, but music was always there. There in my loneliest moments, helping me to reconnect when I felt disconnected. Helping me to realize someone else had felt the same way I was feeling. And there in my happiest moments, to in a way, celebrate with me. Music added so much meaning to my young life.
A now musician myself, as well as a natural introvert, and people-watcher, I’ve often found myself fascinated by the power music has to break through walls, and connect with the soul on a deeper level. Music has a way of reaching us in a way words alone, can’t. Isn’t it cool how even if we don’t understand the words to a song, if the melody’s right, it can make us feel like dancing? Laughing? Crying, even?
“Music is the universal language of mankind.” -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Things have changed a lot since I was a kid. From time to time, I feel myself getting lost in our digital world. But music has a way of bringing me back to reality. Back to the present, and back to life. Little can make me feel better than taking a long walk with my puppy, headphones on nice and snug, waving to the neighbors, & jamming out to some reggae.
Music is powerful, and it has the power to deepen our connection with each other the world around us.
I’ve realized overtime, the music we listen to, becomes the soundtrack of our lives. It’s healthy to start to notice the feelings the music you’re listening to evokes in you. Are these feelings serving you? In other words, is your playlist adding value to your life? Or is it just a compilation of what you’ve always listened to?
Changing your playlist can change your life. I’m not saying you should up and stop listening to all your favorite songs, but it’s healthy to start to notice the way they make you feel.
When I was a teenager I loved heavy metal and punk music. For a while listening to this music really helped me along. Being a teenager is hard, and like most teens I didn’t have a lot of control over my circumstances. Listening to this music made me feel more confident, and strong, and less alone, in ways that shielded me from a lot of hurt.
As I got a little older and circumstances started to change, this music wasn’t serving me anymore. My identity had become wrapped up in it, and though life was going well, I found myself getting more anxious, depressed, and apathetic trying to deal with my transition into adulthood. It had become reminiscent of a time in my life it wasn’t healthy for me to keep reliving. And that’s okay. Though it’d helped me through my past, it wasn’t making me feel good anymore, and I had to recognize that.
I still have love and an appreciation for the music I used to listen to, but I now realize how powerful music can be in shifting our perspectives. And how powerful shifting our perspectives can be in healing spiritually and, even changing our lives.
I hung on to some of my favorite songs, the ones that still made me feel good, but I also started exploring new genres and listening to different artists. I started listening to music that made me feel how I wanted to feel.
Day by day, I started to feel better. And on another typical morning walk around the neighborhood with my puppy, the world around me started to look a little brighter.
Take a minute and think about how you’re feeling in your life right now. What feelings could you use a little more of?
If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack of your perfect day look like? Make that your playlist. Keep your favorite songs, but do some exploring and see what resonates. Maybe you’ll totally fall in love with something new. Fill your playlist with songs that make you feel how you wanna feel. And fill your life with these songs.
Changing your playlist has the power the to change the way you feel, the way you see the world, and in turn, change your life.
