Music Motivates Emotions

Just listening to the radio in the car on your way to work can be an emotional experience. A song comes on and suddenly your transported back in time; to a place in your memory that brings forth a flood of emotions. It's magical how you can remember exactly where you were or who you were with and what you were doing simply by listening to a song.

For me music has a really big impact on my mood. A few years ago I had a bout with depression. Listening to music, even that crappy elevator stuff they play when you're on hold, sent me out of control emotionally. It wasn't until then that I realized just how powerful music really was. I mean, obviously I was emotionally out of whack at the time, unable to gauge myself properly. But the point was made loud and clear how much of an impact music had in my life. Once I was healthy of mind again, I viewed listening to music in a totally new way.

Today I have learned to use music as a tool when I need it. Recently taking inventory and removing the clutter that was stored in the hallows of my mind, music played a big roll. Listening to the songs of my childhood/teens helped me find stuff in there that I needed to let go. One afternoon I put on the local oldies station. Just about every tune sparked some sort of memory or feeling in me. So for the entire afternoon I used the music to help me sort out the bad from the good. Some songs even made me think of other songs that mad me think of other memories. So I found myself on the computer looking them up on Grooveshark. By the end of the day, not only did I listen to some really great tunes, I had cleaned out a lot of old crap that was just collecting dust in my mind.

Music is great motivation. Heck, there is a whole section at the music store dedicated to motivational listening. And what would movies be without music/soundtracks? I checked it out, you'd be surprised at some of the movies I found with no soundtrack at all. Click Here, to see a list of 34 top movies with no musical score...blew my mind. A few of them I want to see again because I don't remember there being no soundtrack - especially '12 Angry Men'.

All this talk about music got me to think...would it be possible to name the one song that had the most impact on my life, emotions, memory, etc... I wonder if it would turn out to be one of my favorites, or not. I'm going to have to do some thinking about that one. For now I will end with naming one of my truest favorites of all time songs... 'The Rose' by Bette Midler. Have a listen to it. It's awesome.

What is one of your faves?