Music is My Muse
My friends and family know that music is my jam. I can often be found bouncing around the house with my headphones in and I absolutely cannot leave the driveway, until my music is pumping through the speakers of my car. I NEED music. I love to sing and would probably have tried to do it professionally if music didn’t have such a profound emotional impact on me. Music affects me not just emotionally, but physically as well. I am a self-diagnosed “concert crier”. No matter the genre, tempo, or artist…I cry like a freaking baby when experiencing live music. I cried at Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Three Doors Down, Flyleaf, and Daughtry. There is no hope for me.
I FEEL music with every fiber of my being. I cannot get through so many of my favorite songs that I love to sing because the emotions well up and I can’t keep the tears at bay. I read somewhere, that if people have a physical and emotional reaction to music, it means that your brain is built differently…I haven’t the slightest clue if that is true or not, it’s just how I am.
Music can set the tone for your day. When I find myself irritable, anxious, or just weary of life’s daily obstacles, I lean heavily on music. When I need to ramp up the enthusiasm in my day…music. When I need to free myself from a negative perspective…music. I even have a play list my loving husband has aptly named, “Period Radio” as I tend to listen to it when I am overly emotional and needing a calm and soothing sound.
To initiate any creative endeavor, you MUST be in the right mindset. If I need to write a suspenseful scene, low foreboding, and haunting music works for me. Action scenes, I tend to call for a more robust sound. I like to listen to metal, alternative or something edgy to put in me the right frame of mind. Love scenes, I need something soulful and passionate. Any emotion that needs to be conjured…music is the key.
There are so many scenes in Argent Myst Avowed and Afterlife that have been heavily influenced by very specific songs and artists. Daughtry inspired many scenes in Avowed with songs such as the acoustic versions of Crashed and What About Now. Breaking Benjamin inspires me when I need to write about drama and struggle, with songs like Angles Fall and I Will Not Bow. My books are romance novels, so a healthy dose of Madalyn Bailey’s soulful remakes and original songs, get me every time.
I have a play list for just about every situation. I am always looking for inspiration and music is my creative wonderland. So maybe next time you wake up cranky, have a rough day at work, or simply need to unwind and transport yourself to a new emotional landscape…let music be your muse.
L.