A post from our Community Correspondent Marilena Balagianni

It is indisputable that music affects our mood and anyone on this planet can confirm this. The type of music we choose to listen to always represents a part of ourselves. Both melody and lyrics are powerful to how a song makes us feel. How do we want to feel and which part of ourselves do we want to grow?

In my opinion, listening to sad music can be beneficial as it is comforting. It might trigger a sense of bittersweet nostalgia, a pleasant peacefulness and even a temporary feeling of catharsis as it brings unexpressed feelings on the surface and  makes you feel understood as you empathise with the pain of the song. If you listen to this kind of songs for a while though, they can almost become a counterproductive mantra followed by a similar negative mood.

My personal view, based on my experience, is that in order to become more joyful we have to surround ourselves with happy people, happy vibes, anything that brings us joy and uplifts us. Sad songs have their purpose but often make us sink deeper to the negative emotions these songs trigger.

I strongly believe that in order to change anything, in this case our mood, we have to take conscious action.  Happy, feel-good songs are training our mind for happiness and it is a great form of self-medication we can offer to ourselves. An upbeat song can quickly uplift our mood but what is more important is the mind-set followed by our choice to to listen to feel-good music.

We should not underestimate the importance of small decisions in our lives. It is the fact that we take action to make ourselves feel better that makes feel-good music therapeutic. ‘I believe that by listening to happy music I will feel better.’  

Probably, if you think that way you will feel that way. Below, there are some of the songs I am listening to, at the moment.