It’s raining cats and dogs, “The Notebook” is on for the third time this week and you can’t seem to stop crying about every little thing. No, it’s not that time of the month: It’s that time of year. The excitement of the holidays has come and gone, leaving you with bare branches and a cold chill running through your body. It’s dark outside and the world is so gloomy, causing you to feel what I call “The Sads.”
Seasonal depression is especially common in places like our very own Utah and more specifically Salt Lake City where weather changes and air pollution is increasingly bad, leaving the sky a glum unrecognizable shade of inversion. Along with taking the proper steps to help with this mental illness in order to have a successful Spring semester, I encourage all collegiettes to put together a “Happy Playlist.”
Music fills the soul with joy and lyrics have a real effect on our minds. During the beginning winter months, songs about holiday cheer fill stores, cars, restaurants, you name it. It’s easy to feel love and hope when that’s what the holidays are all about. I feel it’s important to point out that suicide rates increasing during the holidays is a debunked myth; in actuality they decrease in the month of December. I’ll include a link at the bottom of this article but it’s something you can look up easily as well.
The first step to constructing your personalized happy playlist is to go through the music you already have. Add the songs speaking of joy, motivating you to be better, making you laugh – in fact, if there are podcasts that bring a smile to your face add those too!
Step two is to look up more music. Type in “happy songs” into an Internet search bar; you will find a countless array of sunshine-y songs.
Step three is to actually listen to your happy playlist. Listen to it while you get ready in the morning. Listen to it in the shower. Listen to it while you do the dishes and sing along, causing even more endorphins because singing also does that. Sing along to your happy songs with every light in your house turned on and your blinds open. Your happy playlist may even motivate you to go on a run. Follow through with that instinct. Add and subtract songs from your playlist as you go, you’ll find some songs annoying and that others are perfectly fitting with your mood. Listen to it and listen to it often. Share your playlist. Everybody gets “the Sads.” It may not be a medical condition for all, but it’s a feeling that all humans deal with.
Songs in my “Happy Playlist” include “All Our Lives” by Andrew McMohan in the Wilderness, “So Much Better” from Legally Blonde the Musical, “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” by Weezer, and “The Next Storm” by Frank Turner. These are songs that make me laugh, out loud, in public, on the train, then laugh again because I feel like an idiot for laughing. These are songs that motivate me through my early mornings and late nights. These are songs that remind me that sometimes life is meant to be taken seriously, but other times not so seriously. Music, it not only connects us to others; it connects us to ourselves. It helps us breathe again. So before I fall asleep tonight, I’ll make sure to listen to “Shut Up and Smile” by Bowling for Soup and press shuffle while I drift off.