Everyone has that one activity they can do after a horrible day, and somehow it makes everything better. Music is that thing in my life for as long as I can remember. Next to reading, it’s the next thing to go when I get stressed. I always went around campus with headphones in my ears so I could listen to the latest All Time Low album on the way to class. I have varied musical tastes so it depended on whatever song decided to dominate my brain during that time. Headphones were a necessary part of every car trip along with whatever device I used to play music at the time. 

This seems to be a common thread for most teenagers. I thought when I moved to Chicago, and I couldn’t afford to buy a new pair of headphones after paying my bills for the month that music didn’t mean anything to me anymore. Fast forward a few years, my best friend bought me a pair of headphones from Target. I used those headphones until my dog chewed through my cords a few weeks later. I went without them for a few years because I had bills to pay. I learned to live without my coping mechanism, but I felt like I didn’t know myself at all. I wasn’t reading. I wasn’t writing. I watched Netflix all day when I wasn’t filling out job applications.

Then my friend recommended an author to me. I love reading my friends’ favorite books because I have someone to call if I want to throw the book out of the window. This author, though, helped me realize why I love reading in the first place and made me want to write again. I know everyone is going through a difficult time right now. People are losing friends and even family because of their stance on current issues. I know things seem bleak and difficult right now. It’s okay to lose yourself for a little while, and question who you are as a person.

You will be able to find your way back to a part of yourself eventually. It is okay to be upset. It’s a part of being human. You can get through this, and if you can’t do it alone, it’s okay to ask for help. You need to do whatever helps you sleep at night even if it’s listening to your favorite album before bed with a pair of headphones you bought from Target. It isn’t frivolous if it helps you keep your sanity during this crazy life.