Turn it up

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~Berthold Auerbach

It is hump day—the weekend is officially in sight. For those with kiddos headed back to school this week, we know how critical the weekend is for them. For those of us who don’t have kiddos, we know how critical the weekend is for us!! I don’t think I have ever lived for weekends so much in my life. Well, as a kid, I probably did—but it was for the excitement of watching Pee Wee’s Playhouse and eating breakfast in the living room. Now it is for different reasons.

I realize that last week, I did an entry about the value of silence—and today’s entry is opposite of that. Remember that our tool box of coping skills needs to be filled to the brim so we have lots of options—and sometimes certain skills work or are options, while other times they do not work or are not options. For example, while silence is a great coping skill, I can’t exactly have silence if I’m at work because I’m not paid to do a session of silence at work. In such a scenario, I need to have other options to call upon.

 I have had an emotional couple of days—we all have them and it is nothing to write home about, but these are the days where my skills are put to the test. It really becomes a game of trial and error. After I identify that I am feeling emotional, I work to identify what is causing it. From there, I work to fix/change it. Silence and running were my skills this morning. They helped a bit, but not entirely. I also made a list in my head of things I’m thankful for and I used positive self-talk throughout the day to keep my ugly talk out of my head. But the clouds finally parted tonight when I was helping a friend with some labor tasks and we listened to the music that matched my mood and helped to bring me closer to “out of the funk.”

As we looked through her CD collection and she asked what I wanted to listen to, the answer flew out my mouth: angry chicks. For some, it might cause more anger to listen to this music, but at that moment, it really was more of an expression of those emotions so they were not festering within me. Between keeping myself busy, listening to angry chick music, communicating with some very supportive friends, keeping myself busy and knowing I helped a friend, I literally felt the clouds part and I felt ready to move forward. It was a perfect way to end the night.

So—I chose Cranberries & Ani DiFranco to help me out tonight. What CDs are good ones for you when you are in a funk? Or angry? Or need motivation? I like to keep a playlist for every mood and I didn’t have one for today’s funk—but you can bet I’ll be working on one after I post this!!

Have a great day!!