Self Help

I am going to share with you one of my personal techniques for overcoming sadness/depression.

Take yourself way too seriously.

Admittedly, it probably wont work for many people, and I am in no way advocating acting this way all the time, just at certain times.

At certain times, listening to certain music. The technique I am describing helps alleviate that dark fug that sometimes descends, it increases creativity, and most importantly gives you perspective on your own life.

But its not pretty. Not pretty at all.

Below I will detail a band I might listen to, and the situation I might combine it with in order to relieve a bad mood:

Artist: Rage Against the Machine
Situation: Cleaning Bathroom

Not only does this combination always give me a new clarity once I have finished thrashing about with a sponge mop in my hand and allows me to laugh at myself, it also has the added bonus of making this irritating task infinitely more bearable! Once I have finished railing against 'the man', self righteously congratulating myself on really sticking it to him, and the unfair world I slave away in, I realise that I am in fact just a tit rocking out in a nice clean bathroom. All my problems probably aren't as big as the ones Zack De La Rocha is fighting against and I usually feel a bit happier because of this.

Here's another example:

Artist: Nirvana
Situation:On the bus

This one is really great. Not only are Nirvana really good for getting that huge, angsty serious feeling going, letting me properly feel that its 'ok' (and in a fleeting, stupid, childish way 'cool') to be a bit down and unhappy, but they also enforce the idea that, hey, at least Kurt managed to get out of bed and do something with his misery, so why can't I? A brilliant combination, especially when its added to travelling on the number 38 bus, where everyday its possible to see that there is much more to life than your tiny, insular world, and a lot of people have it way worse than you, you pompous little prick.

Lastly:

Artist: Ice Cube (specifically the song 'When Will they Shoot?')
Situation: Walking to the Market

I doubt there are many people in the world who can directly relate to the tough talk of Hip-Hop. Not many people have the mindset that would allow them to say:

some niggaz
think cause I ain't killed a nigga this week
that shit is sweet
Fuck around, you'll be dead in the street

and actually mean it. Come on...... killing someone every week?

Which is why Hip-Hop is perfect for a bit of escapism. The Ice Cube track 'When Will They Shoot' is perfect for the purposes I have been describing. Juxtaposing the paranoid and slightly arrogant idea that 'they killed JFK in 63/so what the fuck you think they'll do to me?' with my Saturday morning walk to get almond croissant is a great way to feel energised, pretend I'm a tough militant rapper, but at the same time reinforce the reality that I am actually a white English fop, off for a treat that you possibly couldn't get if you were caught up in the L.A riots of '92. On another note, I don't really know why I particularly like the lyrics 'White man, is somethin I tried to study
But I got my hands bloody, yeah' but I would be very interested to know what it says about it me.

So the whole theme of my theory is : Listen to music in situations that help you forget your problems and think about other things, other people, being someone else, and doing something creative. If this means you pull stupid faces, mouthing inappropriate lyrics whilst scrubbing your sink slightly too hard, then so be it.