I can’t be the only person here who has to find release in the little things now and then. Sometimes, it’s working out. I personally think a “runner’s high” is a myth, but I do enjoy turning on Game of Thrones while I’m on the Elliptical and blocking everything out for a half hour or so.

Sometimes, it’s retail therapy, which feels nice while it’s happening, but next thing I know I’ve spent $50 I don’t really have at H&M and end up being more wacked out than I was when I started.

Sometimes, I dump all of my issues and complaints on my friends or family. My mom is like my personal therapist; I tell her all kinds of crazy crap, and she just listens, offers advice where it seems to be needed  and then helps me see reason when I’m acting like a psycho. Or, I bombard groupchats with friends because I need to just get stuff off my chest. Nothing like making my problems everyone else’s problems.

But probably one of my favorite ways to get my head straight is through music. I listen to music CONSTANTLY.

So, even if you are perfectly normal and don’t need any kind of therapeutic release (maybe you’re just a zen person, or maybe your dopamine levels are being stimulated more than mine, or maybe you’re just generally less tightly-wound than myself), I’m going to give you some of my tips on how to let music work for you as more than just background noise.

Cry about it, why don’t you?

Some music was literally created to make you cry, and you know what, who are we to disappoint the powers that be? I don’t care who you are, everyone has at least one thing in their lives that they need to boohoo about. It’s healthy. Don’t keep it all bottled up inside. Listen to pretty much any Adele or Lewis Capaldi song and have a good cry. It’s good for you, trust me. You’ll feel better.

Let your inner performer SHINE

I don’t like to use labels, but if you don’t have at least one song that makes you want to jump up and perform an entire musical number in front of your mirror, then you’re a psycho. Sometimes, you just need to give the people what they want. There’s no rush like the rush of being on the stage, dahling. I mean, just last night I took my hairbrush, cleared my throat and gave the performance of a lifetime to the posters of Taylor Lautner and Orlando Bloom that hang on the walls of my bedroom. I don’t know if Taylor or Orlando are Céline Dion fans, but after my rousing rendition of It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, I bet that I’ve convinced them to see the light.

Work out to the beat of your OWN drum

For a long time when I was just in the early stages of becoming the bona fide Fitness Icon that I am, I used a lot of premade gym playlists on Spotify, or I created my own playlists with songs on it that I thought would “hype me up” for my gym routine. I eventually got tired of the hardcore rap and I started listening to music that I actually LIKED while I worked out. Here’s the thing, who cares if it’s cheesy to listen to Eye of the Tiger at the gym? It’s a good song! Have you ever skipped a song from High School Musical at the gym because you felt like it wasn’t the right place to do your Sharpay Evans impersonation? OVERTHINK NO MORE. If you find music that you truly love and that truly makes you happy, then that’s what should actually be “hyping you up,” not a playlist created by some douchebag with too much spare time and a permaboner for middle-of-the-road hip hop music.

My showerhead is very impressed

I know I’ve made my point about performing, but this one is a given: sing in the shower. It’s a different kind of therapeutic to sing a chill Jason Mraz or Alicia Keys song in the shower than it is to shake what the Good Lord gave you in front of the mirror. Plus, the acoustics in the bathroom? YES GAWD. I mean, what else are you supposed to do in the shower? Wash yourself?! No, thank you.

Sharing is caring

You and your friends probably send memes back and forth already, so why stop there? Have your besties send you some of the songs or artists that they have on repeat, and you do the same for them. It’s a fun way to discover new music, and also a good way to get to know your friends. It’s a win-win! My friends and I at school created a collaborative playlist on Spotify that we turned on when we were getting ready to go out, and it had everything on it from Nicki Minaj to The Pussycat Dolls to Ed Sheeran to Heart to Avril Lavigne and literally SO MUCH MORE. It was fun to keep adding stuff to the list to create an in-depth soundtrack to our college career.  

Jump-start your career as a songwriter

So right now, I’m on this delusional kick where I try to adapt my woes into my own brand of country music. Writing is therapy in and of itself, but writing songs (of whatever genre) is a new way to express yourself creatively. Can I play an instrument? No. Am I really that great of a singer? Um, let me think…no. Do I even listen to that much country music on a daily basis? No! But it’s been a new sort of release to switch gears from writing angsty, moody poetry about whatever is going on with me to actual songs (the reason I picked the country genre? Because I like to imagine myself at dusty bars in the desert surrounded by people who never shower, cactuses and neon lights. It makes all of my problems seem much cooler when I imagine them with a twang).

Don’t worry about loving everything you hear

For example, I’m a huge Lady Gaga fan, but I just couldn’t get with a lot of her songs on her Artpop album. I mean, she’s still a goddess on Earth who is extremely talented and incredible and who I would give my right arm and my left leg to see in concert, but that doesn’t mean that I have to love every single song that she ever wrote or performed. Don’t pigeonhole yourself when it comes to your favorite artists, and don’t be afraid to skip those songs that you’re not enthused by. It doesn’t make you any less of a fan of the artist; it just means that you’re not a fan of that particular song. If everyone’s a critic, why should you feel bad about it?!

Your Extremely Musically-Intuitive Servant,

Em