Put on Some Music and DANCE! - Motivation Monday

I have a tendency to let things get me down.  I don't know where it came from, because I wasn't this way as a child.  Some days, it doesn't take much for the gloom to set in.  An unpleasant word from someone I barely know, a look at my bank balance at the wrong time of the month, even nothing at all, just a down feeling when I get out of bed.

Now and then I'll wallow in the blues, but eventually I'll remind myself that I'm not doing myself any good.  That's when I look for something external to fix my internal.  And one of the best things I've found--and the quickest to work--is music.

Many writers listen to music while they work.  It's inspirational for a lot of us and helps us get in the mood to write.  Some even have specific playlists for each book that help them get in the mood for particular scenes, characters, or parts of the book.

I have several playlists.  One is for writing, and it happens to be playing right now.  Peter Cetera's Restless Heart.  Not only is it writing inspirational, but it has a great beat, and I swear it's hard to stay in my seat while listening to it.  That means it motivates me to get moving. ☺

But the playlist I listen to the most is my "walking" playlist--that I've never used for walking.  Instead, it's the one that can pull me out of the doldrums and get me on my feet.  And getting up and on my feet, making the blood pump faster, never fails to make me feel better.  It only takes one song to put a smile on my face.  When used in conjunction for writing motivation, it nearly always leads me to sit down, put my hands on the keyboard, and write.

One song that can literally drag me to my feet and get me moving is Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark---and I'm not a big Springsteen fan.  There's one problem.  As I'm getting up out of my chair, my groan fills the room.  Years ago--and I mean many years ago--I took an aerobics class that used the song for one of the routines.  It was painful.  But before my groan has run its course, I'm moving.  I can't help it, and that's what I need.  (Reminder to self:  Download that song and add to playlist.)

Even in the car I use music.  There's something about driving alone that can sometimes bring on the feelings that take me down.  Maybe it's the other drivers, who seem to think they're the only ones on the road?  I'm not sure.  It's quite possibly a very bad habit that began before and during my divorce.  The car was the one place where I could be alone.  Now that I've realized how therapeutic music has become for me, as soon as I feel myself slipping into the gloomies, I turn on the radio.  I must be blessed at times like these, because the song playing has inevitably been a perfect mood-lifter.  Or maybe the DJs are psychic?  Whatever, I'm grateful.

I listen mostly to Oldies, ranging mainly from the '50s to the '80s.  Throw in some Country, the occasional Classic, and even some old Show Tunes, and I'm a happy camper.

What gets your blood pumping?  What lifts your spirits?  Is it music?  Or something else?

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons.  You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body. - Oliver Wendell Holmes