The Lifeline of My Music

At 16 years old, I decided to become a fashion designer. Soon after, I booked my first fashion show that triggered my journey to learn how to brave it out through the night. When I had an upcoming event, it had become a habit to work on an average of 3 hours a night up until the night before. I could’ve been working on a custom order, or my new collection for a show; I have never been a fan of coffee, so my go to’s were snacks and the music that I had to blast through my earphones, otherwise risking falling asleep at my work station.

Back then, I was a big fan of K-pop, therefore my main playlist ended up turning into a mess that consisted of artists like Shinee, Lee Hi, Taeyang, 2NE1, Park Hyo Shin, Mamamoo; the list could go on for another hour or two. I cannot stress the size of my library at the time. It was a little ridiculous, but for the most part, it helped me by keeping my mood up when my body wouldn’t listen.

Since then, I have grown, matured, mellowed out, and expanded my horizons. While I’m not in the fashion industry anymore, to my relief, I do occasionally find myself having to tune in to get things done. My go-to list does still have a bit of kpop for the nostalgia, but I tend to go through a plethora of musical numbers, r&b, and ballads. Occasionally, I’ll throw in something more upbeat to give myself a chance to get up, dance around, and shake off any tiredness.

I’m one to sing along without even thinking, so my music almost always has some kind of singing potential. It may be something I can only hum to, or I may end up belting out my favorite parts, but it boosts my morale, especially if the task at hand is something I’ve been putting off for too long, in some cases, until the night before the due date. As long as I have the music directly in my ears, I can block out all other distractions, and lock in to get everything done. From that point, a flow has started, and I have no desire to stop.

From custom orders, to fashion shows, to homework, even cleaning, the right music lineup gets me on the right track and keeps me there. This has made music an integral factor to my productivity. It’s to the extent that if I don’t have the right music, working consistently becomes more of a challenge, as it causes me to stop to change the current song to one that better fits the very specific mood that needs to be achieved. Recently, I’ve finally begun to compile a collection that works in almost every work situation that I find myself in.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3NS4usNXDjwc2UIEGABPRq?si=q1yOOLDWQuaWwEUa0BC0xg

I am continuously adding to this playlist, as I’m late to the party, and only recently switched over to Spotify from another music player. Generally, I like to have a few hours worth of music, so if you take a look, you’ll see that I have a lot of work to do, but I’ve already spent hours upon hours of trying to recall my favorite songs from over the years to add to this list, then narrowing them down to decide who makes the cut. Once I complete this vetting process, I intend to arrange the songs in a way that they might blend well together, even when played straight through rather than being played on shuffle. It is a bit much, I know, but considering how often it’s intended to be played, I will continue to put together the ultimate playlist.