Music is the most positive influence in my life. I listen to a wide variety of people, from John Lennon to Taylor Swift. Although some music could be considered derogatory, most lyrics are uplifting and spread positive messages. During seventh grade I was going through some very challenging times. I took it upon myself to listen to more genres of music than generic pop. When I started to explore new music, I found many songs with positive lyrics and meanings.
All music genres help me relax and simply make me happy. In health we are discussing positive ways to cope with emotions. One example is physical exercise. Another is what our teacher refers to as “being creative.” Listening to music would fall under this category. It calms me down because of the familiarity of knowing the song and realizing that nothing can go wrong when you listen to it. If I don’t know the song, I will listen to the lyrics and see if they are relatable. I went through many hard times in seventh grade and music helped me through it. The encouraging lyrics of thousands of songs that constantly told me to “keep my head up,” echoed day and night. It cancelled out the negativity of people in my life. Also, back then, I had nobody to talk to and I felt as though I had nothing to do. The next year, in eighth grade, my life got significantly better because of basketball and new friendships. However, I enjoyed the pleasure of listening to music the whole time. Sometimes it was the beats and guitar riffs, and other times it was the singer’s voice impressing me. Whatever I found in a song, if I liked it, I kept it with me. Now I associate songs with people and places. My favourite memory associated with a song is “Payphone” by Maroon 5. I went to Australia with my mother last summer, where we saw functional payphones. During that vacation, there were no bad times and my mother and I bonded a lot. Whenever I hear Payphone on the radio, I sing along and think of the wonderful times in my life that music has been there for me. I also reflect on the fact that music pulled me out of a dark, downward spiral I had begun to travel. Any artist in my music library I am able to look to as an inspiration because I see the good in everyone now, instead of the negative.
All music genres help me relax and simply make me happy. In health we are discussing positive ways to cope with emotions. One example is physical exercise. Another is what our teacher refers to as “being creative.” Listening to music would fall under this category. It calms me down because of the familiarity of knowing the song and realizing that nothing can go wrong when you listen to it. If I don’t know the song, I will listen to the lyrics and see if they are relatable. I went through many hard times in seventh grade and music helped me through it. The encouraging lyrics of thousands of songs that constantly told me to “keep my head up,” echoed day and night. It cancelled out the negativity of people in my life. Also, back then, I had nobody to talk to and I felt as though I had nothing to do. The next year, in eighth grade, my life got significantly better because of basketball and new friendships. However, I enjoyed the pleasure of listening to music the whole time. Sometimes it was the beats and guitar riffs, and other times it was the singer’s voice impressing me. Whatever I found in a song, if I liked it, I kept it with me. Now I associate songs with people and places. My favourite memory associated with a song is “Payphone” by Maroon 5. I went to Australia with my mother last summer, where we saw functional payphones. During that vacation, there were no bad times and my mother and I bonded a lot. Whenever I hear Payphone on the radio, I sing along and think of the wonderful times in my life that music has been there for me. I also reflect on the fact that music pulled me out of a dark, downward spiral I had begun to travel. Any artist in my music library I am able to look to as an inspiration because I see the good in everyone now, instead of the negative.