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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