The Benefits of Emotional
Train Wreck Songs
Happiness is talking to yourself
and laughing at how weird you are!
-Unknown
There is much good to be said about the impact of emotional train wreck songs!
Maybe you are not ready to feel the flow of love moving through you─ not just yet. Maybe the heartbreak is still too fresh… the disappointment still too raw.
Well, the first step in healing, is to admit how you authentically feel right now in the thick of it all… in the middle of this relationship misery!
Years ago, while I was going through a very painful divorce, my wise and wonderful, then 13-year old niece, gave me a weird little song to cheer me up.
It certainly got to the core of my anger and confusion… and allowed me to laugh at a time when there was very little to laugh about.
Neuroscience has shown that through laughter─ happy hormones, like endorphins, are increased and released… the stress hormone cortisol is reduced.
The result: you feel happier, less stressed─ you make better decisions, are less impulsive, more at peace.
Imagine that… acknowledging upset actually helps it go away! Wallowing (for a brief time) in the pain actually helps it to heal!
The secret is to love yourself─ all of you… the good, bad, and the ugly… the sane as well as the crazy parts of yourself.
This stops the need to justify, cover up, or pretend. You can look at your relationship with honesty.
If you decide that what you're feeling doesn’t serve you─
You can choose again:
- Choose a different perception of the situation
- Choose a different response
- Choose a different partner, if need be!
But you have choices. You are not a powerless victim.
So go ahead, enjoy this wicked-crazy, irreverent, little song.
Sing out loud, shout, wave your fists in the air, stomp your foot down!
It’s OK to feel stuck… and even better to move past it, to let it all go and move on without bitterness.
Allow this "weird" sick little gem to make you laugh!
If that song is too over-the-top for you, I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor or RESPECT by Aretha Franklin, are also good, cathartic choices!
Those who danced were thought to be
quite insane by those who
couldn’t hear the music.
-Angela Monet