Music and Mood at Work
I have music around me as much as possible. It lifts my spirit and makes me more human, I think. Someone might say that I am in my own la la land because I have a playlist for before the kids get here called “Feelin’ Good Classroom Music.” To that voice I say: “No, it took effort to get those songs loaded and it takes effort to press play when I get to work.” I put music and meditation on a high pedestal when it comes to work. In a given day I am barraged with requests from the administration, parents, and of course the kids have many needs. As an educator, it is easy to get caught up in my “to do list” and stress over it. When I stress out, the first casualty is my creativity and that ironically is that can solve most these professional issues of stress.
In short: I need music at the beginning of the day.
I’ve read that every one of the 5 senses has a different component related to memory. Scent, for example, has hedonic component where if you smell something you haven’t smelled since you were a kid, you might recall volumes of memories … it can even be overwhelming causing people to pass out I have read. Music is like that as well.
I have on this songlist music that takes me away to a place where I feel free and open to create and innovate my work. I also have a big comfy desk chair that I bought years ago at a discount furniture. It helps the musical effect, let me tell you! I am a moody person, to put it simply. For me, music is just as important as a drug would be. Recognizing that and being responsible to have a boombox or computer playlist in my work area is a facet of responsibility, no la la land here ;)
There are meditation actions one can take such as TM, prayer, mantra repetition and others. These are also important. There are so man things I can do proactively to have a great day at work. Nothing, however, prepares me better for my job of creativity and patience than quality time hearing musical notes and melodies being played in the morning. Whether it’s Theme from a Summer Place or DEVO singing Girl You Want from the Tank Girl soundtrack, playlist rules and I know it makes me a better teacher in a good mood every day.
Have you made a “Feelin’ Good” playlist?
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Tags: Classroom, creativity, educator, innovate, kids, life, mantra, memory, music, patience, repetition, spirit, work
I know it’s weird, but Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice makes me smile (: Every time I hear it I laugh. I don’t know why!
Have you heard of those people who see colors when they hear specific sounds? They see ribbons of color for each note. Some of them taste things when they hear sounds. Depending on the sound, it might be bitter or sweet or sour. I saw it on a “Super Human” show a while back. Pretty interesting.
I am new to your site after I saw a comment you made at wellbeingandhealth.net/ . After taking a quick look at your site, I plan to bookmark it and check back.
I love music too. I grew up in the 80’s so I am in a better mood whenever I hear pretty much anything from that decade. The Police and Boston are my favorites.
Good entry and site, Damien.
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@katelyn: LOL @ Vanilla Ice. I prefer Under Pressure where the bass line was ripped off from . hehehe Those sesnsory studies sound amazing, I’ll look into them
@Devin Thanks Devin, what a boost your comment is! I appreciate it.
My favorite Police song is Every Breath you Take and my Favorite Sting song is All this Time. Boston have the best guitar sound on the planet, I love that band. Have a great day.
I love making playlists and i love seeing what other people’s playlists are - i have been introduced to some great new music that way! i have way too many favorite songs to even begin on what i would put on my feeling good play list!
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Here’s a link to a small article on what I mentioned above. I wish I could find the actual show on Youtube or something. I’ll look for it later. It’s so cool though.
school-for-champions.com/senses/synesthesia.htm
Oddly enough, while I enjoy music I really don’t listen to it all that often. The one place that I listen to the most music is in the car, followed closely by at work. Normally I just flip on the Sirius satellite radio and enjoy, without a playlist of any kind.
It is nice having an office though where I can close the door and crank up some tunes while I hammer out some code.
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I have to listen to music each day. I find that it improves my mood and helps me to relax. The same goes with candles. I keep different scents in the various areas of our home.
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Candles are great … maybe you could write a blog article about what they do? Is incense good bad worse better?
They say that when you stop listening to music you are getting old … singing and making music can also rise your mood. But what about if music is your work?
I was at a family picnic at which my dear longtime friend Gwen Stefani was at. She echoed that question. We were jamming guitars and laying and someone asked her to sing she said something to the effect of: ” This is my job, I’d rather hang out and watch you guys! ” I still think music is important to any soul, but certainly it’s probably harder to appreciate the magic when you are behind the scenes making it for a living.
Hi Damien, I’m one of Sarah’s friends and I get over your blog occasionally too :) I had to comment about the music and teaching because I totally agree. When I was teaching, I even had different CD’s I brought in for before school and after school. I have to laugh because some of the songs were the same. I also played a lot of music during class when I could. I taught writing and sometimes, we would experiment with different music on free-write days. The kids would write and we’d talk about how/why different kinds of music changed your writing. We listened to everything in my class from Branford Marsalis to (one of my favorite lessons) to country to classical. I always believed the kids were more creative/remembered better when I used music.
I love music–all kinds. I’m proud with how many different types of music my own kids enjoy. Especially when my kids start belting out Queen or the Beatles and people give me odd looks :) That’s interesting about what happens when it’s a job. My sis is a lighting tech for concert tours and still is a huge music lover (probably not the same as actually PLAYING night after night)–although I doubt she listens to Billy Joel willingly after being on the tour for 4 years now. Geez–I didn’t mean to write a book–LOL! Thanks for the food for thought.
Thanks Nicole. Yes I have heard Sarah speak of you, she says you’re very cool. I will have to spend more time checking out your blog, especially since you taught writing … too cool!
It sounds like you are dialed into music and I think that is so cool. Sarah can tell you I have my faves. She makes discs with a lot of different stuff on them a lot but mine seem to stay the same through the years. I love the idea of doing an assignment with music in the background. I think it has a quality that really connects people on some level. If the whole class is imprinting new knowledge, that’s bonding and if it is done with the same songs, that’s something they will remember forever. Too cool about the Billy Joel connection. I’ve always liked that guy’s songs.
Nicole, your comment made me laugh because I’ve seen plenty of strange looks when our 6 year old starts to belt out some of the lyrics to War Pigs and/or Iron Man from Black Sabbath. =)
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@Derek: Well I’d call you a Hessian parent but Hessians have hair :) Shhhhh don’t tell anyone but I was in the Minivan with my 3 year old going to the grocery store and “Play that Funky Music White Boy” was on, and I laughed so hard because she was rockin in her seat singin along … only the word she used wasn’t “funky” but it had a similar 2 syllable sound LOL. What do you do????
Lol, one of the funniest things with music is when you (or you hear someone else, kids or adults) singing along with a song and have the lyrics completely wrong but don’t know it - not that I have ever done that or anything. ;)
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Well, I don’t think I had ever imagined a 3 year old using the F word so masterfully. We had a chat lol. Sarh heard her doing it too, it was priceless funny … I don’t think America’s Funniest videos would air it, but it would win the prize if they did!
They say that when you stop listening to music you are getting old … singing and making music can also rise your mood. But what about if music is your work?