Finding Your Passion

It has been a stressful day and you want to unwind what do you do? Everyone has something they do that helps them stay grounded or relieve stress but let me tell you what helps me during these times.

Music is what helps me the most when stressful days come, and I feel like screaming or giving up. Listening to music no matter what genre makes me feel at peace and helps me forget all the stress the day brought my way. What I listen to the most usually has a message whether it’s about love, work, friendship, family, or life in general. The feeling of ‘I am not the only one that goes through what I’m going through;’ at the time is a peaceful feeling. I do not wish anything bad on anyone in this world and I wish the horrible things that happen to good people don’t, but life is life and life is full of ups and downs, good and bad. Knowing that even a stranger has gone through something similar makes the lonely feeling I feel ease. Recognizing that ‘yeah I am having a horrible day, but someone else out there is too.’ Do not downsize that horrible day you may have had and do not compare your day with someone else’s either.

Music has taught me that you can overcome your day; that everyone has the strength inside of them to turn a horrible day into a good day. Even if you feel like you are not strong enough to do it, you are! Then start the next day with an attitude of ‘today’s going to be a good day’. Don’t focus on what happened the previous day. That is why music has always been the number one thing in my life that helps me on stressful days.

There is another thing that keeps me grounded during these times. Art projects help by keeping me focused on the project in front of me and not what happened earlier in the day or the previous day. Art projects can be done while listening to music so it’s like having a second layer of stress relief. They suck me in and it’s like I am in my own little world and the outside world disappears. One of the main art projects I do is wood burning.

Years ago, my dad was doing a wood burning project and I helped him out a little and by doing that I found it soothing. I decided I wanted to have a wood burning kit of my own so a few birthdays later I asked for one as my present and I got it. I was excited and ready to get started using it and I knew what I was going to do first. Every year I make my aunts and sister a present for Christmas and it’s usually homemade in some way. Last Christmas I got some small wooden boxes, and I burned a design on each one and gave them out as presents. Whenever I find myself stressed or bored, I do a wood burning project of some sorts while listening to music. I can’t say I am great at it yet, but I find myself getting better at it with every project I do.

Music or wood burning may not be your thing but finding something that keeps you grounded or helps you relieve your stress from the day is the key to survive this world. Especially now with the pandemic that continues and has no end in sight. This world can be cruel, but it can also be great and amazing. It is taking the time to find something in this world that helps you overcome the times when you feel like the world is against you. I hope everyone finds something that does what music and wood burning does for me.