Soothing Music

I was having a really great day when an unexpected bomb dropped on me and blew the last few hours to pieces. I won't get into the details about the bomb in question now because that is a topic for a whole other blog post. A LONG blog post.

Everyone responds to stress in a different way. I like the neatness and order of my apartment too much to throw things. I don't get a sudden urge to jump on the elliptical trainer or start sprinting down the street for a run to take out my frustration. I don't have the attention span needed to meditate effectively. So I normally find the closest food containing sugar or chocolate and inhale it to feel better.

I was reaching for my unopened pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia when a friend I was chatting with online suggested I put on some soothing music instead. Now I have playlists for lots of things already created in iTunes, but relaxation was not one of those. So I pulled up the first album from my collection I knew would be guaranteed to mellow me out and put me in a good mood.

There is just something about Carole and James. Classic songs in acoustic style make everything better. These two are smiling because they know how good it is. I'm glad they do what they do, because within seconds of "You've Got A Friend" staring to play, my attitude changed completely.

But I didn't stop there, and I found some other great albums in my collection for my newly created "Soothing Music" playlist. Here are some of my other favorites:

• Diana Krall - "The Girl In The Other Room"
• Carole King - "Tapestry"
• Breathe - "Peace of Mind"
• George Winston - "Winter Into Spring," "Autumn," "Forest," and "Summer"
• The Swell Season - "Strict Joy"
• "Once (Music From The Motion Picture)"
• Elton John - "Live In Australia" and "Love Songs"

What music takes you to your peaceful, happy place?