I woke up this morning to a beautiful song. It’s a favourite that J and I both love listening to on lazy weekends when life is a little laid back and we have no major chores to attend to or stuff to think of. Mostly, when we’re relaxed or on holiday.
Today, however, was a different day.
I woke up with a phone call that came as early at 6 AM—to inform me that the home help was taking a few days off again (in 2 weeks, this was the second time!). Of all the days when I had my schedule planned, to write uninterrupted for an hour and then head off for my morning walk in the park; to be back in time for fixing breakfast for the family, before getting ready for a scheduled appointment at 10 am.
Aarghhhhh! This meant that nothing would go as per plan today.
I was not only irritated but enraged too….angry at this woman who always disappeared when I needed her to be around. My mind raced along reorganising priorities, pondering on how best to reschedule everything to make them fall into place once again. All my planning had gone for a toss.
That’s when this old familiar tune flowed in from the adjacent room, leaving me with something quite unexpected. The piece of music transformed my mood, and wrapped me up with a warm and cosy feeling that made me feel lighter and happier. It didn’t take me long to realise this was one of the many little things that always brought a joy to my soul
It was as if with the swish of a magic wand, someone had made me realise how uplifting music could be, especially in those early hours of the day. I could tell it was having a direct impact on my mood. As I lay quietly, I wondered how music has the power to charge us emotionally and bring on a more positive outlook of the day ahead. A fond memory from my childhood years came to mind— of waking up to the soft lilting strains of Rabindra Sangeet that wafted in from the kitchen while Ma was at her chores in our Kohima home. The memories of those days, of Ma and her songs, her humming in the kitchen and the lost fragrance of a time that would never ever come back—music, then and music, now. Life then and life, now. So different. The very thought jolted me back to reality! This time, I felt a surge of positivity in me. Music had the power to do what nothing else could!
I’m sure many of us wake up to music or listen to music as we do the daily commute to work. At times, we tune in to a radio, at others, we randomly pick a playlist from our device. Don’t you? I do. Did you know, being more selective and conscious of the music we listen to in the morning can have a great impact on our day? Have you ever tried listening to more uplifting music in the morning? Especially, if your mood does not dictate so?
This is something that I’ve realised about how each of have a way of picking the music we love to hear. We choose music according to our mood. In other words, if we are feeling down or disappointed by something, we are more prone to listen to music that reflects that mood – for instance blues, sad songs or low-tempo music. This has the effect of reinforcing that mood.
But, what if we did the exact opposite? I mean what if we retuned our mood by listening to music that beats to a different tune than that mood?
What do you think? Does music find a place in your morning routine? Have you ever tried music that’s different than what you usually love to listen?
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There’s music in the air for those who listen…… And I actually believe in this quote. Morning music now mean shabads, kirtan, aarti, shloks……. But as a kid it was blues or rock. Once the eyes opened we went staright to tune in to ‘our’ music 😁 😁 with parents trying their best to change us with ‘beta subha bhagwaan ka naam liya karo’. But at that age…… Hahhahahaaa. Now we are following them. I guess for me the best “first” music in the morning is the sweet chirping of the birds
Such a touching post Esha .. written as only you can !! Waking up to music !! It brought back so many fond childhood memories of classical instrumental music playing on the LP and the progression to radio , cassettes spools , Cds , bluetooth devices and now Alexa !
I think we all have a soul song . It has nothing to do with a given period in time or age … it just resonates seamlessly .
I had just entered my teens and I loved the song Marguerita by Elvis Presley! And then I discovered the song Kaun hai jo sapnon mein aaya by Rafi saab and couldn’t help notice some similarities ! Music is
Universal right ?
https://youtu.be/ApjA9OfAUk4
https://youtu.be/rIZePvua2rQ
I do hope your maid is back soon . Its annoying to wake up a call like that .
Have a great week dear !
I completely identify with your take on music. I am one person who devours music, primarily Hindi movie songs from the olden era. It happens that a song comes to my mind and starts playing. I start humming it and then play it on YouTube, singing along. Then YouTube takes it from there with its auto play thing. And the mood picks up. I can’t do the house chores without music.
On a lighter note, I was kind of worried about the GDPR for the past one week. And today when I finished with it, the song on my mind was ‘nigaahein milane ko jee chahta hai. Dil o Jaan lutane ko jee chahta hai.’ This is how my mind works 😀
Of course! The husband switches on the TV or the radio soon after he wakes up to listen to music. That’s how he gets ready for work. I NEED to listen to my favorite songs while cooking 🙂 Lovely post, Esha!
I switch on the radio in the morning at 7 pm and it goes off only late in the night. Thats how much music is present in my daily routine. Its a part of my life now and I cant get it out of my system.
Sadly, with little time, I hardly listen to music as a schedule. Sometimes, I do listen when I’m driving but not during the daytime because you always need to focus on the road. I don’t think I need to mention the kind of traffic we have here…it’s like playing a video game!
I think that sometimes we just need help to wallow in our misery before laughing it off; that’s when the tragic, miserable songs come in handy. The dark, ominous minor keys. The crashing, dissonant chords of discord. Sometimes we need upbeat music to keep us upbeat – to sustain us as we start to slip away into melancholy. Sometimes, we’re not ready for the dissonance of a happy song to interrupt our sour mood, or a soft, sweet piano tune to calm our excitement. It is too much to bear – like wool against the skin. But it’s worth a try, when we’re ready to climb out of a negative funk. I find that this deliberate choice works best when I’m trying to rouse myself to walk faster or exercise more/longer.
Lovely! Yes, I’ve often used a hymn or the Gayathri mantra to set the tone for the day, Esha. Lately, I’ve realized, I haven’t been listening to enough music.
Music is not a part of my daily morning routine but we do play old CDs once in a while in the laptop. My mother likes the oldies and I prefer Jagjit Singh’s voice. We spend a few weekends like this before watching Rangoli. Rangoli has been an integral part of our Sundays.