Have you ever been to Montreal in the winter?

Well, it’s bitingly cold. It’s not usually very sunny. And because it lasts so long, if you’re not careful, it can get very, very depressing.

It was a (typical) stupidly freezing cold day in Montreal on some weekday in February in 2006. I was walking to work. To a job that I hated to the very depths of my soul. Every time I walked through the doors of the building, I could feel every cell of my body tense up, rising like a spiked ball to my chest and threatening to come out in some obscene, public breakdown.

But I never let it out. It took everything I had, but I kept it – and my head – down, did my work, and prayed for another day to come and go.

Not a great existence, I know. And quite a dramatic contrast to the life I lead today (both in weather and in content).

Something needed to change, or I was going to drown in the sea of my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad mood.

And then it happened.

Somewhere in the midst of my depression, I began using a tool to help me shift perspective, a tool that quite effectively helped me to start looking forward to the future, one that didn’t include this soul sucking job, or this crappy outlook on life.

The tool was white and silver. It was about 3 or 4 inches long and an inch or 2 wide. A Christmas present from my then boyfriend, Evan.

It was my iPod. And it contained the contents of what would eventually propel me out of that woe-is-me life and into the one I lead now.

Never underestimate the power of music, my friends. It can transform even the coldest of Montreal days, and even the deepest of non believers for a hopeful future.

It can instantly transport you back to a place in time you hadn’t thought about in years. It can lift you up, it can make you sad, it can make you anything it wants to, because it can represent anything unique to you.

Think about it. When you hear the first song you ever slow danced with a crush to, aren’t you instantly back to that moment (it was Bed of Roses by Bon Jovi for me)? Or the song that was playing on the radio that time you got some bad news about a loved one (it was Fix You by Coldplay for me)? Or the song you played when you got your very first record, cassette or CD player (it was Waterfalls by TLC for me)?

In those dark days at that job I hated, I discovered the song Move Along by The All American Rejects. Something about the beat made me walk a little taller. And something about the words made me feel something I hadn’t in a long time: hope.

Every day that I walked to work, bracing my face against the frost-bitingly cold wind, willing myself to stick out my job for just another day, I would play that song as loud as my ear drums could stand. And it did its job: it transformed my attitude. It transformed my state of mind. And in the end, it transformed my life.

Ever since that experience, I have used to power of song to change my state of mind. When I moved to LA, I used to play Feeling Good by Michael Buble (his version, anyway). When I used to run on a treadmill (ick) I would play Eminem’s Til’ I Collapse during the last few minutes when I was starting to give myself permission to stop, and every time, I would not only keep going, but I would also speed up and sprint the final stretch.

No matter my mood, music has always been there for me. A companion when I’m feeling good, a trusted friend when I’m feeling down, and a motivational coach when I need to be lifted up.

So the next time you find yourself in need of a shift in your state of mind, I urge you to turn to your favorite song. I promise you, if only for a moment, you will feel a shift in your energy, and that shift might be just what you needed to propel you not only into a better mood, but also, into a better life.

Your crazy friend,

Lauren
xxx