Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends in Canada! (I wrote a post about feeling grateful a few weeks ago, so I will let that stand for my gratitudes today.)
Do you have specific music you play when you want to “chill”, or calm down?
Lately I’ve been a bit obsessed with Hozier. (And I’m extremely grateful to my friend who got tired of me talking about how I should just buy the album and gave me an iTunes gift card so I would do it already!) I can, and regularly do, listen to all the songs on repeat. I listen to it at work. I crank the volume in the car when I’m driving by myself. I’ve only had the songs on my phone for a few months, and I would guess that I’ve listened to them well over 100 times.
There are a few songs that I don’t like as much as the others, and I still know all (or almost all) of the words to each song. They play in my mind when I’m not listening to them.
I’ve had other artists or albums that I have really enjoyed in the past. I’ve had other music that I would put on to set a mood, to relax, or because it made me feel good, or feel better. I think the first music that I bought, and that I would regularly put on as my feel good music was Enya (Squeee! She’s got a new album coming out next month!). I still really like Amanda Marshall (who apparently doesn’t have a website) and Nelly Furtado. And I have almost all of Shane Koyczan‘s work on my current playlist (which reminds me, I need to go buy his latest album, Debris…). I like Imagine Dragons and P!nk and so many other songs and musicians. I have quite the eclectic mix of music.
I can’t think of anything I have played as obsessively as Hozier, though. I’ve been trying to define what it is about it that keeps me captivated. The sound of his voice, the tone of the music, the edginess of the lyrics… I don’t really know. I do know I feel good when I listen to it.
For example, last week I had a stressful day at work. I was supposed to be off early, so I would have some time to relax before going to do a tarot reading and teaching a class. And then a friend needed my help. There went my down time. I was feeling resentful, and I was working on my self talk to change things up. I went through a full round of mantra with my mala. It wasn’t helping. So I turned on Hozier really loud, and sang along, and by the time I got to the tarot reading, I felt so much better.
I talked to a couple of my coworkers, and they each have their own feel-good artist. I’m curious, who is your go-to musician for a mood booster?
Blessings,
Mary
PS. If you are in Canada, election day is in exactly one week. GO VOTE!
My feel good music ranges from classical to help me concentrate when I’m studying and reading in general, metal calms me down when my blood is boiling and anger is prevalent, and for keeping me grounded and relaxed when I drive, can never go wrong with classic rock and roll!