[TheatreKid]

I'm usually in the middle of a mood shift when music really starts affecting me.

I've been listening to all of Daughter's EPs and albums all day and I can feel the music physically. My heart is just choked by all of it. My favourite song of theirs is about a young person dying unexpectedly, possibly by suicide. I just got home and hit shuffle on the playlist and of course that was the song that came on.

Sigh. I had several weeks of freedom from the constant drama of FEELING everything.

I mean, I'm a writer and a musician, and I do my best work in the state I'm in right now. In between. Not manic or depressed but reactive and tired of heart. I actually wouldn't want to be any other way, not with the things I come up with when I'm like this, but geez.

I thought I was a normal person for a little while.

[glok]

Hello, TheatreKid. Do you think you can manage the mood shifts well enough to utilize the times you do your best work?

[TheatreKid]

I can utilize this state for a little while, and be amazingly artistic and productive, but feeling everything so keenly takes pieces of me. I'm afraid eventually I'll be full of holes and sink.

[Skitz13]

I can appreciate your love of music but at some point it sounds like a trigger for you and you need to be careful with that.

I guess you'll have to set some boundaries around that. It's all about management.

[Dix888]

all the great artists, musicians, etc. have/had deeper feelings than "normal" people. Let yourself feel! hooray for you being a musician & a writer! Upbeat music makes me dance & dancing makes me happy. Whenever I can remember to put upbeat music on, my day is so much better

[TheatreKid]

There's management, and then there's hypermanagement. I don't want to cut out everything I enjoy because it might trigger. I don't drink, I rarely go out with friends, I go to sleep at the same time every day no matter what is going on, I eat properly, I socialize, I exercise. I'm going to enjoy my music.

Obviously, I feel better today. Just a passing dip.

[sarahblue]

A tip I learned from a music therapist: in order to help change your mood, play two songs that match your current mood. Then play a song or two that matches the mood you want to be in.

I also find that dancing or belting out a song also makes me pretty happy.

[TheatreKid]

That sounds like a great strategy, sarahblue. I'm going to try that.

As melancholy as the music I'm listening to is, it makes me want to play the guitar, so I've started doing that, which makes me happy.

[ERF2ERB]

Originally Posted by sarahblue

A tip I learned from a music therapist: in order to help change your mood, play two songs that match your current mood. Then play a song or two that matches the mood you want to be in.

I also find that dancing or belting out a song also makes me pretty happy.

i really like that idea. i tend to dwell in things that reflect the mood i'm in, versus being proactive in changing it. i think that's a great suggestion!

[sarahblue]

Oh, I left out playing music

When I got angry and frustrated as a teen, I would play this loud and angry mazurka that ended with three staccato chords. Always helped me feel better. I need to practice more. I'm sitting right next to the piano, I could be playing with those keys instead of these.