By Lee Taylor, Forum Editor
I won’t be the first to tell you that music can change your entire view on life. Once you find the right music for you, you can plug in your headphones and be sent to a world unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before. For me, that music is anything by Starset, an alternative rock band that releases concept albums on themes such as space, angels and demons. (You know the song “My Demons”? Yeah, that’s Starset.)
I had the amazing opportunity to see them in concert recently and ever since, I’ve felt like a new person. I’ve been more energized, more excited and motivated to do things and overall happier in general. I can’t explain the sudden change other than their music must be magic. Seriously, there’s something about hearing the first bars of your favorite song blast top volume through the speakers at some old club or fancy stadium that makes life feel good. Same with listening to it through the speakers of your decade-old speakers in your run-down car. Almost like despite all the bad things that have ever happened to me, being able to hear Halo by Starset on repeat seven times in a row makes it all okay.
Whenever things get too hard and I feel alone and like nobody is there, I know I’ll always have a home in music. I can close my eyes and hear exactly what I need to in order to make it to tomorrow. Even if the song itself isn’t happy, there’s something about hearing lines like “you told me if you love me let it die/and you left me more dead than you’ll ever know” that shakes me to my core.
To me, it’s as if the music is tethering me to tomorrow, begging me to stay and listen until I can’t anymore. Like as long as this music is here to embrace me when I need it most, tomorrow will come just as easy as today. There’s something about the feeling of hearing a line so powerful you get goosebumps that makes me feel powerful. It’s hard to explain why certain songs make me feel like I can run up a mountain, they just do. I think it’s something about the way these artists manage to say everything I’ve ever felt in the span of a 13 song album. When Starset’s new album, DIVISIONS, dropped, I listened to the full setlist in order and let me tell you, it changed my life.
I know for some people who might read this who don’t experience music the way I do, the idea of music being an escape might seem like an abstract concept, but hear me out. Picture your favorite thing in the world. Whether it’s your phone, a childhood memory, or a person. Think about how safe and happy that thing makes you feel. How when you interact with this object, all worries seem to fade away and for a few minutes, the world is less scary. That’s how music makes me feel. Like for once, I can take hold of the reigns on my own life and choose my path.
If you’ve never explored music as a form of therapy, I highly recommend it. Try a few different genres and bands until you find the music that makes you feel empowered.
Any time your stressed, anxious, or just having a bad day, try putting on your favorite music and just breathing. Eventually, you’ll craft your life’s very own soundtrack, and trust me, it just might change the way you view your life.
