Why I Use Music to Get Motivated
A tool used by some is available to us all.
Mariana Vusiatytska, Unsplash
If you’re like me and have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, you hit snooze ten times. Here is the solution. Make a playlist of pump up music and keep it handy.
BEEP BEEP BEEP.
Your alarm has sounded and it’s time to get up.
Snooze!
7 more minutes.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Snooze!
7 more minutes.
Repeat.
No. End the vicious cycle here and now. Here’s how: take a lesson from 18-year-old Charlotte.
The year is 2016. The year when my dad became terminally ill.The year when every day was filled with uncertainty.
The year when Hamilton is surging in popularity and keeping me sane.
The year when every day I woke up for high school I immediately put on Wait for it from the musical’s soundtrack. The music would pull me out of bed, jump starting me like a rocket as I’d leap awake and prepared myself for the day.
Looking back at this time I see how I got out of bed. This song made me feel like I had a purpose. Its lyrics reminded me of some fundamental truths.
“Death doesn’t discriminate… We keep living anyway, I am the one thing in life I can control… I’m not standing still, I am lying in wait.” — Wait for it
In a time when I was dealing with a dying parent, I used music as a way of getting through nearly every part of the day. Starting with the basic action of getting out of bed.
The beginning of the day is important and starting on a good note makes all the difference. Without music — without the lyrics about pushing on, living, and being in control of your own life — I wouldn’t have had such a huge propeller to start another day shadowed by the gray cloud of my dad’s illness.
And it is four years later and I still remember this exact song and how it helped me in such a small yet meaningful way.
2016 was a significant year for me — I was graduating from high school and dealing with losing my father to Parkinson’s and dementia. I received support on many different levels, but music was something that helped me through every emotion possible that I was experiencing.
Hamilton empowered me as I got ready to start the day.
I’d listen to the entire soundtrack driving aimlessly around my hometown with a close friend, Lexie, at night. We screamed the words to all the songs. She helped me close the fro-yo shop I was working in and we put on Hamilton to get pumped up and the job done efficiently.
Hamilton was my go-to music for when I wanted to be energized, feel good about myself, and have fun with my friends. This acted as a distraction from the craziness that was going on in my life.
And when I was sad and thinking about endings I listened to all the music that my dad loved. All the classics like the Beatles, Elvis, The Beach Boys, and ABBA.
Then there was my French music.
Edith Piaf was the center of my life as I was creating a one-woman show on her for my final theater performance in high school. I listened to her music to inspire me. I wrote the show and did exercises to get in character before performing.
Stromae, a Belgian rapper, was there when I needed to let out bursts of energy. Screaming the words while driving or jamming with friends in my living room happened when I was listening to Stromae.
Music kept me sane.
In my dad’s final days, I sat by his bed and played I Want to Hold Your Hand by the Beatles. This song was very special for me because when I was younger and with my dad he always asked if he could hold my hand. As my dad laid on his deathbed, this song brought me to tears. I held onto my dad’s weak hand and we listened together.
I had a spiritual moment when I was sitting there playing that song. He was at the stage where he couldn’t really talk anymore. He almost always had his eyes closed. During the song I took his hand and he squeezed mine. A moment passed and he said with shocking clarity, “I am entering the second life.”
Music is powerful.
Anger flourished as I cried and screamed about my dad dying. Blasting heavy rock music as I ripped a paper out of my sketchbook, I brought heavy rough strokes down on the paper. I created a scary leering face with expletives scratched all over the page.
Music is transformative.
At my dad’s funeral we played For All the Saints and again I was moved to tears. I created a playlist of all the songs he liked and we played it with a slideshow of family photos at the reception afterwards. All of his favorites: Petula Clark; Peter, Paul and Mary, ABBA, The Beatles, Elvis, Elton John, Frankie Valli, The Beach Boys.
Music reincarnates the soul.
My dad was with us in that church reception room with his music playing. His face was beaming at us from the slideshow.
I learned a lot about myself. My journey was fundamentally altered by the music I listened to during this tough time.
It served as a motivating force, to literally get me up and jump start me into action. It helped me fuel my emotions when all I wanted to do was scream and cry and give up. It brought me joy and happiness in moments spent with friends. It helped me cope and mourn and bring relief to me through my father’s illness and death.
Music motivates.
In a time when the world is standing still, music pushed me to move forward.
