Music Soothes My Soul

I have always kind of been my own soul. I like to be by myself, and I also enjoy being with family and friends. I am the type of person that can enjoy a movie, a concert, or a quiet Friday night with just me and a good book with the lights dimmed. I guess that I have been this way pretty much my whole life. I started writing at a very young age, it has always been an outlet for me. But nothing has been as constant or more dominant, or needed in my life as music has. I was introduced to live music at a very young age, by my dad taking me to concerts on weekends.

I am almost always listening to music, every day all day. Whether I am cooking in the kitchen, cleaning the house ( or other peoples houses for that matter ) or working in my home office. I even listen to music when I am reading my favorite book. I enjoy music so much so that I worked at a performing arts center just so that I could watch all the musicals. And I have a some point seen most of the big ones. From Cats, to Man From La Mancha, Les Mes, and of course Phantom Of The Opera. Music has become a huge part of maintaining balance and calmness in my life.

When my emotions are running wild, or I am depressed, an argument with my husband. Work isn't going as well as I expected it to. Maybe I am just tired and stressed out because the day or the week has been way too long. I have a song for that. One could say that I have a favorite playlist for whatever is going on in my life at that particular moment in time. Although I love music a great deal I generally stick to listening to three genres. Which would be metal or what used to be alternative rock once upon a time, classic rock, and the last being country. This includes the jazzy smooth sounds and lyrics of Chris Stapleton. ( who is technically country. )

As I said what I listen to all depends on what kind of day I am having, and what I am doing at the time. For instance if I am sitting at home working from my office you will usually hear classic rock playing in the background. There is something about the sounds of Journey, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ozzie, Metallica, Aerosmith, and such bands that just relaxes and transfixes me. It clears the everyday mundane clutter out of my head so that I can concentrate on the task at hand. Even when I sit down to write the next chapters in my book, you will find me listening to rock from the 70's, 80's, and 90's mostly.

Now if I am having a bad day, or I had an argument with my husband I like to run. While I am running, obviously to let out the stress, anger or hostility that is travelling through my body and mind at that point, I like to put my earbuds in and listen to something a little heavier, such as Five Finger Death Punch, or Disturbed, Seven Mary Three, Godsmack, or Tool just to name a few. This heavier louder sounding music always compels me to run quicker and for longer and gets the anger and the anger and animosity seem to flow from my body much like the lyrics do in these songs.

Sometimes though life takes me in a direction where I need things to be more subdued and softer. Like when I become over sensitive or my emotions a somewhat out of whack. Depression, anxiety attacks, and manic moods hit me in life just like they do anyone else. Some instances where this held true was when my best friend died of an overdose, he loved music just as much as I do. Music was his saving grace for a while but in the end the music was not enough, and the music did finally die in Beau's head. Following his death I listened to the local country music station for about a month straight. I find that there is often something comforting and soothing about country music. Several years ago when I was diagnosed with cancer and told that it was aggressive, it was in my cervix, uterus, my tubes, and my ovaries. I was taking an trial form of chemo that came in a pill. But I also needed to do chemo treatments with radiation several times at the hospital. I remember during these treatments I would put my earbuds in an almost drift off to the sounds of country, especially liked listening to Chris Stapleton then because he has a light and jazzy sound to his songs. This use to take me away to a time when life was not so vicious and beating. Who knows maybe in some way the music helped me to will my body into remission. Because that is where it has been for quite a while now.

But enough of the sadness and grief, music also makes me happy and relaxed, content and peaceful. When I am cleaning ( which oddly enough I really enjoy doing ) or cooking, or I just want to unwind and relax. My go to favorite playlist of all time is the voice of one Axl Rose and the sounds of Guns and Roses. There is something about Axl's voice and his lyrics and the way that Slash plays his guitar that leave me transfixed and in another world and state of mind completely. From Knocking on Heaven's door, to Patience, November Rain, Don't Cry, or My Michelle, to the harder sounding Welcome to the Jungle, or Paradise City. It does not matter I love them all. More often than not if you were to come to my house that is what you will find me listening to. I know it is somewhat of an eclectic mix, but that's me weird, strange and nowhere near ordinary and I am perfectly fine with that. But without music the world to me would be a dark and miserable dangerous place, that quite frankly I don't think I would enjoy ever being a part of.