Music Is My Therapy

I feel like I have a therapist with me 24/7 because I can crank up the radio, turn on my iPod, log in to Pandora or listen to music on my phone anytime of day. I can't imagine going a day without music. I've always felt that music has healing powers but I decided to discuss it today because a well known non-profit (that I found out about through musicians wearing their merchandise and by going to shows) tweeted about this very subject.

To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) is "a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide." The line in the blog that particularly caught my attention is "We believe music can help us find words when we feel there are none, and support us when we feel alone." You can check out the rest of the blog, and music selection at www.twloha.com or follow them on twitter @TWLOHA.

Sometimes I wonder if music controls my mood or if my mood controls the music I listen to. Really, it's a parody of the whole "chicken or the egg" question. Personally, I think it's a bit of both.

I'm about to let you in on a nerdy secret, but here it goes... I have play lists on my iPod called "Heart Broken" and "Girl Power!" When things go wrong in a relationship I allow myself to listen to the "Heart Broken" play list, but only for a week. I don't let myself listen to the music that keeps me in my wallowing state for long. Instead, I move on to my "Girl Power" play list which helps to get me out of my slump (and out of the ice cream bucket) and on to bigger and better things. It gives me the confidence and the boost I need, in order to realize it's not the end of the world.

With Valentine's Day approaching, I don't want to be heart broken, I want to feel powerful. Below are some songs off my list, along with their powerful lyrics.

Top picks on my "Girl Power" list:

Reba McEntire- Strange
"Strange. Talk about luck I woke up and the sun was shining. Strange. I ought to be in bed with my head in the pillow crying over us, but I ain't, ain't love strange?"

Jo Dee Messina- My Give a Damn's Busted
"I really wanna care. I wanna feel something. Let me dig a little deeper. No, sorry. Nothing."

Emerson Drive- Running Back to You
"And I know that giving in is easier than starting over again but don't expect to hear me call your name...Don't ask me where we went wrong, you were weak, baby, now I must be strong...I won't come running on back to you."

Finally, my absolute favorite song out right now is "A Little Bit Stronger" by Sarah Evans. It was also sung by Leighton Meester in the film "Country Strong" starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw. If I added my favorite lyrics from this song I would be copying and pasting the whole thing. I promise you won't be sorry if you watch it on YouTube.




Maybe you'll even get a little bit stronger...

What songs would you put on your "Girl Power" list? What song puts you in a good mood every time you hear it?

Introducing the Mouse and the Music

Hi there! I know you have all read the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" when you were little. If you haven't, the gist is that the mouse starts off getting a cookie. Once he has the cookie, he wants a glass of milk and then a napkin and then a bunch of other things all because he had the cookie. In the end, something triggers him to think about having a glass of milk, so of course he wants a cookie to go with it. In turn, the cycle starts all over again. In fact, the author Laura Numeroff went through a similar cycle herself. After "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" hit the shelves, she went on to write "If You Give a Pig a Pancake," "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" and other books along the same story line.

I have discovered lately (or been told rather), I am the mouse. Instead of cookies starting this whole cycle of events, for me, it's music. I listen to music, fall in love with a song and then a whole slew of other events follow such as: buying the music, impatiently waiting for tour dates to be announced, getting tickets for the show and buying merchandise at the show. Also, while I'm at a concert, I usually hear a new band I like and the process starts all over again. Not only does the cycle start over with a new band or artist but my obsession continues with the original artist. This results in me seeing way too many shows for the same artist and being introduced to more bands that start the sequence again.

So you see, I am the epitome of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie".