Dear Ms Anonymous,
Happy Saturday!! I hope you are planning a relaxing and restful weekend. Or at least one that involves self-care! It is #selfcaresaturday after all!
As I’m writing this post I am feeling happy and energized. It’s quite a far cry from the sad and depressed state that I woke up in this morning.
Sometimes, it just gets like that. The world feels overwhelming. You feel like nothing in your life is the way you imagined it would be. And the emotions come spiraling down from there.
Using music for self-care
I had to turn my day around. Enter – music! (Today’s blog post is a lesson in West Indian music education. You’re welcome.)
So, as I was getting ready this morning, I knew that I had to quickly reach for my phone for a pick me up. I don’t have a lot of music downloaded on my phone, but thank goodness for Amazon Music, Pandora, and Youtube. Between those three apps I can always find some music to cheer me up.
Music is such a powerful healer. Lyrics can speak your soul’s language. Beats can bring you out of a funk so fast that you forget where you started. And I found that if I play some tunes to get me dancing, I only need 1 minute to turn my mood around.
Do you have a playlist that helps you when you are feeling down? Tell me about it in the comments below.
Soca – music for my soul
I’m not sure that the majority of people who read this blog know what soca music is. Think – island music, with lyrics that you probably won’t understand unless you are West Indian. Honestly, sometimes I don’t even understand the lyrics, but I don’t care – I’m here for the beat!
Growing up in a Haitian household, when my family would have parties, they would play, well, Haitian music. It has those romance vibes. That “I want to dance with you cheek-to-cheek” type of sound that makes babies.
As a teenager, I started listening to Jamaican music. The kind that had real dance moves that all the cool kids liked to imitate at the club. Dancehall is what they call it. It started with Buju Bantan and continued on with Elephant Man. This is the music that makes you want to get up and dance to choreography! This video brought me back to a dancehall class I took in NYC – except it was way more fun because my girl Annie was right next to me bustin’ a move too!
Dancehall music reminds me of soca… except soca is a little less on steroids. Well, the beats are more subdued, but you feel just as hyped up.
When you turn on soca music, you can’t help but dance. I now have my husband hooked on soca! He says he can’t help but be in a good mood when soca is playing. And I 100% agree.
For me, soca has healing qualities. Perhaps for you, it’s rap, or country music. I jam out to those too at times. But if I need a quick (or extended) pick me up – I reach for Kes The Band, Nadia Batson, and Machel Montano. Seriously, click the links above and see if it doesn’t transport you to a different place.
Reach for what heals you
The thing about self-care is that each individual has a different approach. So, perhaps there’s another type of music that heals you.
Sometimes when I get into a bad mood – there’s NOTHING besides angry music that is going to get me out of it! When I’m in that kind of head space, I can’t reach for the melodic tunes of soca to pump me up. No way! Those days I need Notorious B.I.G., or Nicki Minaj (I know, I’m old school). I have to pretend I have the lyrical prowess of a rapper, driving with my volume turned up to the maximum, and my windows down. After 2-3 songs like that, damn, do I feel better.
My point is, you can use different types of music to help with whatever you are going through at the time. And it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else. It just has to make you feel good, or feel better, or whatever other positive adjective you want to use here.
Beware of drowning in melancholy tunes
For me, when I’m feeling sad or down, I really have to stay away from melancholy music. It just brings me down further. That’s never a good outcome.
The power of healing through hearing
Although it’s not music, sometimes when I’m feeling sad, I need to fill my soul with something uplifting – like a church sermon, or a podcast. When I listen to something inspirational my mood lifts automatically. There’s nothing like the power of positivity to change your mood or your outlook on life.
In my 7 Daily Practices to Help You Care For Your Mind post I talk about the power of affirmations. When your ears are filled with positive messages, your heart, mind, and life start to shift towards the positive. You can change your whole reality by the words that you say, and surround yourself with.
What would happen if we surrounded ourselves with positive messages? If we spoke to ourselves solely in the affirmative? Think about how uplifting our lives would be.
Heal through affirmations
We attract the level of happiness that we give out to the world. When we continue to say negatives, that’s all we will see around us. But, when we choose to begin each day, or every moment, strongly in the affirmative, our lives will flourish.
Start speaking to yourself in the affirmative. Positive self-talk is the perfect antidote to a bad day.
And if that doesn’t work – turn on some soca! You’ll feel better in no time! Here’s a youtube playlist to get you started!
With love,
P.S. – Go make yourself a healing playlist right now! Add all the songs you need to get yourself out of a funk, because you deserve to have music that makes you happy. And if you already have it set up beforehand, you’ll be able to dial right in and start the healing process.