Boosting your happy with music

This is going to be a very interesting piece because the first part was half written...I left it in my drafts because I didn't feel compelled to finish it or post it. The second half of the post comes from my current state.


Written: January 6, 2014
Lately I have been consciously  working on living with intentions of happiness and joy to battle any feelings of pity, distress, or discontent that may arise. Creating different buckets of happy can allow people to pull out whatever pieces of joy they choose to at any moment. What is a "bucket of joy"? Well that would be any form of expression you feel boosts your happy. My number 1 bucket of Happy is MUSIC! I love music and research shows that different tones in music can stimulate different responses from the brain. Faster tempo songs create more positive feelings, as opposed to slower, deeper tones stimulate feelings of sad, or melancholy. Which is why most r&b, love, blues songs are in such tones, and why house, pop, and electronic are more upbeat.


Written: March 7, 2014


The above excerpt continues to stand true. I created a "Happy" playlist because I felt almost anything but Happy: Debt, broken hearted, seclusion, confusion, lost...those were the most prevalent feelings (even though I know those are circumstances). Fortunately at the time I was still operating, for the most part, in gratitude, so I had faith my "feelings", mindset and situation would change, but in quiet moments it was overwhelming sometimes, and even though I did have support, I felt alone...so I turned to my music, prayer and writing once again.


 Music is such an amazing tool that allows you to shift your mind and emotions. Every since I was a child, music was something that allowed me to escape into the being I wanted to be! My grandfather has countless videos of me dressing up and singing to Music Box Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Sade, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson and you wouldn't believe, Michael Bolton ( I can totally laugh now because I was never allowed to watch BET until about the age of 9/10 ,so I only saw VH1 videos which at the time really only had pop, and smooth sounds). I escaped to a place in which I was on stage, accepting awards, talking to the world and performing! I was even escaping "reality" as a child. That was feel good music.
I discovered how therapeutic music was when I was about 15. At that time, I was often having suicidal thoughts, and made several attempts, but clearly it was just hurt that made you feel like you want to disappear. It was the release of Lauryn Hill's Miseducation of Lauren Hill...wow that saved my life. I must have listened to it at least 3 times a day for about 8 months and wrote in journals EVERYDAY! Once I realized how important my presence in this world and my struggles were, I really had my first spiritual transformation. I switched between Miseducation, and a lengthy Gospel playlist filled with Donald Laurence, Kurt Carr, Clarke Sisters, and Fred Hammond. I became so in tuned with how impactful your environment is on your mind; environment meaning the people you surround yourself with, your physical environment, what you watch, read, and listen to.


I believe that our lessons of joy and pain are not to be kept to ourselves. That's why I don't mind being transparent about anything if someone asks me, or if I feel they are reaching out for love, comfort or insight.  Therefor I wanted to share some songs that I love, and make me feel good. I'll probably break this up in a couple of posts because I have several different types of playlist. Happy, Grooves, Lets Get It, Women Rock!, Hyped Praise, and Lifted Praise (Now of course, I have way more than playlist than these, but just providing some general grouping) Below is some of my fave songs on my Happy Playlist. I typically play these songs throughout the day because they are about living a great life. They are not about love, hurt, materialism, but joy, individuality and power! A playlist of songs that I really needed to hear at the time I made it!


1. Pharrell- Happy
2. India Arie- Just Do You
3. Jill Scott- Golden
4. Goapele- Closer
5. Rihanna- Hard
6. Michael Jackson- Jam
7.Mary J. Blige- Just Fine
8. Nina Simone- feeling Good
9. R. Kelly- Happy People
10. Whitney Houston- I'm Every Woman
11. Outkast- B.O.B.
12. Michael Jackson- Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
13. Blackstreet, Mya, Mase & Blinky Blink- Take Me There
14. Michael Jackson- Butterflies
15. Janelle Monae- Electric Lady


Do you have goto songs you can listen to that make you feel good? If not, think of them, write them down, and make them readily accessible. What are some songs that put you in a Happy Mood?


BE Happy~


Written By: Tiffany Wright

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