Positivity Corner: Those Old Familiar Songs

Music has always been a huge part of my identity – a massive part of my day-to-day life. When I was three, I sang my first solo in front of a crowd. When I was four, my mom began teaching me how to read music (even if I stubbornly refused to let her teach me the piano).

But in recent years, for whatever reason, adulting seems to have stripped away some of the elements of life that are so much a part of who I am. Perhaps that’s because I’ve not had the time to daydream, read novels for six hours a day, needed more sleep than, well none, and other first-world tragedies along these lines.

One of the things that has fallen away has been listening to and singing amazingly beautiful, inspiring, and uplifting music. Why? Who knows. I listen when I run, I sing in the shower (sometimes), I choose certain movies as favorites because of the incredible soundtracks. But the everyday listening to music that lifts my soul has somehow fallen to the wayside.

That is, until this past winter. I found myself incredibly depressed (yes, I might have been S.A.D.) as the long nights and short days left me stuck inside after an incredibly challenging, lonely year.

But one morning, I awakened knowing something I needed to do for myself: I needed to listen to old familiar songs. I crafted a playlist on Spotify, made up of the music of my childhood. Uplifting, brightening, soul-stirringly familiar songs of hope, and joy, and peace.

Now, I start my work days with songs that I know so well that I can sing them mindlessly while I work. And my attitude, my spirit, my life have dramatically improved with each song. On days I forget, my spirit is dulled and heavier.

So, one of the most positive things I’ve done for improving my life this year has been adding songs that I know so well, that my soul sings them.

If you’re struggling, if you’re feeling sorrow for “no reason,” perhaps your own Morning Joy playlist could be just the thing to lift your spirit upward, and outside of these dark days.

Need more good vibes and uplifting thoughts? We’ve got plenty to brighten your day.

• Typewriter – Poetry
• For Sale – Fiction
• A Grey Pearl Accordion – Positivity Corner
• Many Happy Returns – Essay
• Memories on a Rainy Evening – Fiction
• My Favorite Things: Black Cats
• Concerto, World Premiere – Poetry
• City Cycling – Positivity Corner
• Traveling Back in Time with Outlander – Literary Travel
• Light Hues of the Soul – Fiction
• Ripe with Anxiousness – Flash Fiction
• A Sighting – Fiction
• Waterfall Bathing in Prony Bay – Positivity Corner

Rita Mock-Pike

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Editor-in-Chief of The MockingOwl Roost, Rita Mock-Pike is the granddaughter of aviatrix, Jerrie Mock, first woman to pilot an airplane solo around the world. Rita has found inspiration from her grandmother’s life and flight and pursued many of her own dreams in theatre, podcasting, novel writing, and cooking up delicious food from around the world. She now writes on food, travel, pets, faith, and the arts. She’s happily married to Matt, and faithfully serves the very fluffy kitten queen, Lady Stardust.

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