Anyone who knows me even somewhat well knows that I’m a hardcore music lover. When I leave my house every morning, I check for three things — my keys, my water bottle and my iPod. Sometimes I have my phone, most times I don’t. But as long as I have my keys and my iPod, life is good.

I also have a slightly neurotic nature when it comes to my iPod. I have more than 25 playlists, all separated by artist, mood, season and whatever else made sense to me at the time.
Depending on the playlist, the songs can be in order by date of release, favorite song to least favorite song or my personal favorite: songs with similar beats and/or themes.
This might sound like an insane thing to do, and it may also make me seem like I need to make more friends so I don’t spend so much time doing things like this.
When it comes down to it, though, every playlist I have has been created for a specific purpose.
When I’m having a bad day, I turn on the “Alternative Mix,” which only further adds to my moodiness, but it’s OK.
When I’m struggling to get up in the morning, specifically every Tuesday and Thursday for my 8 a.m. class, I turn on my “Power Playlist,” featuring songs with catchy dance tunes and obnoxious lyrics that are sure to get me up and alert – on the condition that I don’t play it too loud and wake up my housemates.
One of my favorite playlists is my “Yoga” one. It consists of a bunch of crazy chanting songs that don’t quite use the English language, but that’s OK because its purpose is to chill, relax and get me in the zone during a good meditation session.
I even have an “Angry Mix,” consisting of a bunch of old-school hip-hop, R&B and rap songs that spark some sort of fire within me on a day when I need to feel confident in myself.
My all-time favorite playlist is my “Sleepytime Mix,” because it gets me right to sleep any night I’m having trouble paying the Sandman a visit, which is three nights out of the week, usually.
The songs on this playlist are all very soft and relaxing, and they put me in the comfortable state of mind necessary for a decent night’s sleep.
I guess you could say that my obsessive tendencies concerning my playlists is a bit out of the ordinary, but for me, it’s one of the few things I feel like I can control in my life. Grouping songs together based on mood, genre type or whatever else makes me feel like I can control my emotions and my occasional bouts with insomnia.
Knowing that there’s a playlist to match whatever mood I’m in or need to be in is one of many great things that gets me through each day. So if you happen to have some free time to create a playlist or two that will get you through a really bad day or help add to an awesome day, try it. Because at the end of the day, as Hans Christian Anderson said, “where words fail, music speaks.”

JANAE BUTLER
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