The Anatomy of the Desk: Stressed vs. Unstressed

Lately I’ve been noticing certain specifics in my life and wondering: If I were in a novel, would this be symbolic? Would this be metaphorical, or hold some kind of connotation other than the literal? Maybe this is just a crazy English major problem, but it’s been on my mind.

One of the biggest areas of my life that I see this concept in is my desk. When my desk is messy, so is my life. Or rather, when my life is messy, so is my desk. I’m guessing that the busy life starts and then the hectic desk area kicks in.

The desk is an area of work for most, including me, except for when I get stressed, when it then becomes a place for me to put everything and anything that I come into contact with. This includes literal things, as well as figurative baggage that I’m dealing with. Earlier this week, my desk became a physical representation for the stress that I was feeling inside.

Let’s take a look:

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset
The stressed desk.

Pictured here is a general mess, homework that I should probably be doing (but instead I’m watching Once Upon a Time or reading a non-education book of choice), a dirty bowl from breakfast (probably three days ago), a secret santa gift that I still need to give out, a photo of my brothers, and tissues to cry into (because I miss my brothers).

A mess, am I right? This is what my life comes to when it gets to be too much. I take everything out on my desk. Poor desk.

Now let’s take a look at what my desk looks like when I finally am able to get my life together:

The un-stressed desk.
The un-stressed desk.

You can see that my homework is (pretty much, hopefully) finished, there’s not much of a mess left, I’ve received a “Best Day Ever” mug from my sorority big sister, and the photo of my family is just one week away from being in the present. I’ve gotten my stuff together, for the most part.

There’s still a little bit of clutter that I’ve shoved into various corners and crevices of my workspace, but those are just minor things that I have to deal with. I have a feeling that come next week, when finals begin, my desk is going to start looking a little bit more like the first picture. However, I know that this is all a cycle, and soon my desk will be empty as I’m preparing to travel back home for the holidays.

Life has it’s ups and downs. For some reason, I picture my life as a story being told, and can read into my own symbolism. Maybe if I keep my desk clean even when I’m stressed, the stress won’t come on as strong. I’m not sure if that’s the way it works, but I might try.

Have a great week, and good luck on finals to any students!

Brooke

Investments to Make in College

It comes as a surprise to no one that college is expensive. Everyone knows that a lot of college kids do not consider themselves too good to check between their parents’ couch cushions for lost change, to take hours of surveys online for a $5 gift card to Amazon, or to scrape together donations from friends until they have enough to get a pizza (at least partially because the leftovers will serve as meals for the next couple of days). Most college kids shop with the mantra, “Buy whatever is cheapest.” Meijer brand items become your best friend. Your Christmas sweater is definitely from Goodwill, which is the best place to buy those anyway. Your regular clothes also eventually end up coming from Goodwill. Dr. Pepper turns into Walmart’s Dr. Thunder, which is basically as good (and that’s coming from a Dr. Pepper enthusiast). The 5% off coupon on Target’s Cartwheel app seems legitimately exciting. Twelve cents saved is a big deal in college. In light of all this, it can be easy to completely write off the idea of bigger-ticket purchases. However, some of these purchases can be important in college and may last for years beyond graduation.

Winter coat

Winter
Photo from last year featuring my ever-present winter coat. And my boyfriend I guess.

My parents were gracious enough to buy me a warm parka my freshman year, and I’ll keep it forever!! Or, at least, until I graduate. It is on its third Michigan winter and is still going strong (though I haven’t had to wear it that much yet this year!). A good winter coat is an absolute must when you’re walking outside from class to class all day.

Robe

I got a nice fuzzy robe for Christmas my freshman year and I still wear it all the time. It’s more convenient to wear my robe around my house than to use a blanket, and sometimes when my room is really cold, I even sleep with my robe on over my clothes and under all my blankets. It’s a little restricting, but so cozy. Robes aren’t always expensive, but they’re easy to overlook as a purchase that seems really unnecessary; however, if you have a few extra dollars to spare during the colder months, a robe is a really great purchase.

Spotify Premium

Spotify has a discount for college students ($5 per month instead of $10) on its Premium membership. I held out for a long time, but this summer I eventually gave in and subscribed and I haven’t even thought about getting rid of it since. Though this is an expense that can add up over time, it does not seem very big since it is only $5 once a month (but be sure to know what day that payment will be withdrawn each month if you’re someone who lets your bank account get down into the decimals – you don’t want to overdraw it!). I listen to Spotify during my downtime and while I do homework, and I love getting to put on a “focus” playlist and know that I won’t get distracted by an ad every 12.4 minutes.

Coffee

This year I’ve had to learn a lesson the hard way: I’m most productive between the hours of 7 and 10 a.m. at Lemonjello’s. I didn’t want to give into this because going to LJ’s inevitably results in buying coffee, especially when I get there in zombie mode at 6:30 a.m., but I have learned that $1.75 is a good investment in my productivity. If buying that cup of coffee will help me to get several hours’ worth of work done, it is worth it. Part of the trick here, too, is to buy plain coffee – going for the lattes and mochas is what really starts to rack up the bill.

Produce

Dinner
Good produce leads to tasty meals like this one!

It’s easy to get tempted when you go grocery shopping and only buy Goldfish and Oreos, especially when healthy food is so expensive… But it’s worth it! I feel way better when I’m eating natural foods rather than junk food, even though junk food seems way easier sometimes. Putting in another dollar to upgrade from a bag of chips to a couple cartons of raspberries is an investment in your health!

Books

It’s tempting to rent your books and send them back at the end of the semester to keep costs down, or to sell your books back at book buyback at the end of the semester to make a little extra cash. However, if you have books for a class and you really enjoyed them and learned from them, keep them! It’s worth it to have them to reference later, especially if they’re for your major! I have a hard time parting with any of the books I read for my Religion department classes.

College

Last but not least, college is an investment. Make sure to treat it as such. Skipping classes and homework assignments is a waste of your own money! Use your money, time, and resources wisely and make the most of your investment!

Thanks for reading! Keep up with me on Twitter (@hopekathryn17), Instagram (@kathrynekrieger), Etsy (LakesPointCollective) or send me an email at kathryn.krieger@hope.edu!

“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:24

 

 

You Were Made For This

I chose to come to Hope for a lot of reasons. One being soccer (how can you say no to Van Andel Soccer Stadium?). Another being the fact that Hope is the only Christian school I visited that didn’t require Chapel attendance. However, at those Chapel services, kids fill the building every time. Kids actually want to go to Chapel? Crazy, right? As we’ve already covered, Hope is dope.

One of the other main reasons I chose to come to Hope is that the Greater Holland Area Young Life chapter absolutely thrives. Unfortunately for me, although coming in to school Young Life was a priority, for a while it had to take a back seat to soccer, work, studying, etc… Until now. But first a little background.

At my high school, North Allegheny, our YL club was huge! Still is actually, and growing. None the less, Young Life played an extremely instrumental role in my life through out high school. Some of my closest friends, who I frankly never thought would associate themselves with Jesus, met Christ through Young Life. I was absolutely fascinated by an organization that was drawing kids in like no church youth group ever could (at least to my own experience). In addition, my YL leader Dan Irvin played a very key role in my maturation, and helped me develop into the young man I am today. The people I met, relationships I built, and experiences I, well experienced, through YL have left an everlasting impact on my outlook on life. You could ask most of my friends from North Allegheny and I bet they’d say the same thing. It was awesome!

Come my junior year, Dan allowed some of us older kids to play more active roles in the ministry. Being the youngest of three kids, I had rarely been in a position of leadership that did not involve soccer. As a student leader for Young Life, I was given that chance. And I absolutely loved it. I wanted to impact other kids’ lives, just as Dan and the other YL leaders had changed mine. Of course they would always tell me that it wasn’t by their own power that these things were happening,  but it was Jesus working through them. Slowly but surely, I grasped this concept and hoped that one day Christ would give me the opportunity to lead like these role models in my life had, and continue to do so.

Fast-forward a few years and here I am at Hope. Last night was the Holland Area Young Life Christmas party. There, all of the new leaders, including myself, got to find out where they’d been placed to lead the following semester. Turns out I wasn’t the only one who thought YL was awesome in high school, as nearly 70 new leaders have been placed this semester.

All Area Leadership

Personally, I’ve been placed at Hamilton High School, a place I know close to nothing about. But Go Hawkeyes!

IMG_1405

I can’t wait to see how God uses me in this new role I’ve been blessed with. I’m looking forward to getting started!

Of course, I have some encouragement. Short and sweet. Psalm 37:5 tells us that if we commit our acts to God, then he will act. You never know who is looking up to you. If you play your cards right, you may even convince a college kid to give up his free time to teach high schoolers about Jesus. Thanks, Dan. Seriously.

Have an excellent week everybody! Why not go out and change somebody’s life. As the Young Life motto goes, “You were made for this.”

With love,

Steve

A Review of Hope’s Introduction to Poetry Class

Quote from the Dead Poet's Society

The second half of the semester, I started my Introduction to Poetry class, taught by the respectable oddity that is Prof. Greg Rappleye. I love this class so much, and there is a certain aching building in the hollow of my chest knowing that next semester I won’t be able to sit around in a circle of fifteen kids discussing whether to save a horse a student wrote about in her poem, listening listlessly to the professor speak on the history of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes for the umpteenth time, turning in a poem or two about not knowing what to write, and spilling hot blood on paper, sitting quietly as the rest of us critiqued your poem on workshop days.

This class is everything you would never think it would be. The common misconception about poetry is that it is suffocating, restricting, boring, and only for the pretentious whose noses are lifted high enough to touch the ceiling. The fact of the matter is that I have never felt more free. Prof. Rappleye does a peerless job of finding the silver lining in every student’s poem while giving solid, constructive criticism. When writing comments on our poems, he jots down “Great poem!” or “Great start!” and underlines it at least four times. We often hear him ask, “Is this wrong?” to which we’d give the resounding, “No.” Even formal poetry with strict guidelines feels more empowering than restricting. We are taught that the poem is not the slave of the form but the form a slave to the poem. And although the assignments are specified as in turning a Persona poem one day and a Poem of Address the other, the professor will always choose the poem even if it doesn’t necessarily write to the assignment.

I personally like drawing and painting (studio), but for those who don’t like that or performing arts and are looking for something to fulfill the Art II general education requirement, I highly recommend taking the Intro to Poetry class.

To send you off, here’s one of my favorite poems which we have read in this class: This is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams.

plums
“so sweet / and so cold”

57 Playlists: A Dissection of Music – Different Activities

Happy Sunday, Readers! How ya doing? Feeling the stress of finals already? I sure am… I’m five papers and one portfolio deep in words, words, words. So I’m about to give you some more words to read! Here’s my second post about music, except this time we’ll be dissecting the different types of music to listen to while doing different activities. Let’s get started!

Scenario 1: What am I doing? Working out, any time of the day. Mood: ENERGETIC. Lots of energy whenever I decide to work out or go on a run. For this, we need something very upbeat to get through the endless circles  at the Dow or crunches in your bedroom.

The ideal music choices we have for working out are:

  • Spotify Playlist: Epic Roadtrip
  • Band: Twenty One Pilates or Beyoncé (you can never go wrong)
  • Song: Sorry // Justin Bieber

Scenario 2: What am I doing? Walking to work, 8:00 a.m. Mood: Taking into account the chilly air and the sleepiness  from waking up just 37 minutes ago, my mood is unmotivated. For this activity, we need something that’s a little deeper and soulful. Not quite upbeat, but not so dreary that I fall back asleep on my long walk.

So the ideal music choices we have to fit the mornings are:

  • Spotify Playlist: Winter Acoustics
  • Band: James Bay
  • Song: Maybe Sparrow // Neko Case

Scenario 3: What am I doing? Anything around my house (maybe cleaning or doing laundry) or in the library between the dates of November 27th and December 26th. Mood: Christmas joy. During this time of the year, the best music is Christmas music, am I right? For these types of activities, we need straight up holiday jingles. But lets give it a twist because the classics get a little worn out.

The ideal music choices we have to bum around the house and be jolly are:

  • Spotify Playlist: Folksy Christmas
  • Band: Sufjan Stevens (His whole Christmas album is gold)
  • Song: Christmas Isn’t Christmas // The Boy Least Likely To OR Once in Royal David’s City // Sufjan Stevens (can’t get enough!)

And there you have it for what to listen to for different activities as you go throughout your day! Try these different tunes out and let me know if you have any suggestions for me. I love getting new stuff to listen to!

Enjoy this last week before finals, Readers!

Until next time!

 

Finals Week: A Greater Revelation

It’s true, I’ve been sleeping less often than usual. I’ve been snacking during weird hours and eating sugar cookie-flavored popcorn at 10 a.m.

And I glance down at the sticky notes on the keyboard of my computer to see the list of three presentations, an exam, two quizzes and four journal entries due in the next week on top of a research project I’ve barely began and two side jobs, plus owning a small company, and my easy answer would be, “busy.”

Finals WeekBut this finals week is not about me. It’s not about the stress, anxiety and realization I don’t understand a single concept on my study guide. It’s not about the lack of sleep. It’s about the plans that are unfolding for me.

When people ask me, “How’s your week?” I reply, “I’m busy, but I’m still.” Maybe, too still. But then I remind myself this is the way it’s supposed to be. We’re supposed to feel at peace. We’re supposed to be sober-minded and not become hung up on the small things of the world. And I know I have a lot to do, but it will be accomplished. Five semesters in, and completion hasn’t failed me yet.

I watched a Vimeo video last week that reminded me of something important: our degrees are not about us. They’re about the way we’ll help other people once we leave.

The things we learn here are only a glimpse of the things we’ll find in the years to come. And we see some of our friends applying their knowledge already, such as my friend Danny, who is a part of the nursing program. He’s the first person we call with random symptoms and questions about whether or not we need to go to the doctor. Our typical diagnosis: exhaustion. And our prescription is sleep.

And sometimes we fail, in the way I’m taking an interpersonal communication class studying nonverbal cues, but for the life of me I can’t maintain eye contact with the cute boy who sits next to me.

I think that sometimes we forget that the things we’re taught – the really difficult things we’re taught, either in content or in emotional investment – are the things we feel are a burden. That’s because they are, and they will be. And our learning of it now is what allows for us to manage it later when we experience it in our career in a very short amount of time.

I’m sitting in Martha Miller with papers strewn about my computer, a half-eaten bag of popcorn, a water bottle and five open notebooks, and I laugh. This is only the beginning of the greatest adventure of my life.

I will be still. I will rest in the peace that has been so freely given to me. And I will learn. I will learn, not for myself, but for all of the people who will be waiting for me.

An Accurate Picture of my Homework Life

We have arrived at the end of the semester. Everyone is anticipating final exams, finishing last minute projects, and cramming for tests.

This is where I do homework.
When in doubt, get a table to yourself and just get it done.

When I sit down to study on the second floor of Martha Miller, I pull out my laptop and lay it on the table. I check my phone. I put it in my backpack. I sigh, and I pull out a folder and a notebook. I pull up Moodle (Hope’s course management system) on my browser. I check my assignments. I pull out a book from my backpack, one that has yellow pages and recently divorced with the original cover. I read and take notes. My knee bounces with anxious frustration. This is class is the worst. I type a short written assignment.

I submit my assignment. I pull out my phone. I put my phone away. I slouch in my chair and stare off into space. Five minutes later, I get out a different folder and notebook. I start again. I eventually realize that I haven’t made any progress in half an hour. I pack up, lift my backpack to my shoulder, walk downstairs, and leave the building.

The rotunda is a good place to study.
Dedicated students devoting their Saturday afternoon to homework.

Maybe I’ll study better with some coffee. I head to Lemonjello’s, the local coffee shop, and order a dark roast. I see a friend or two, and talk to them for, Oh, look! An hour has gone by. I walk away. from their table and start to realize the weight of the deadline in front of me. I pull out another book.

Now it’s dinner time. I have almost everything done. After dinner I play video games with friends.

Oh no. I just remembered I have a paper due tomorrow. It’s 11 p.m. I stay up late, finishing it. I get four hours of sleep. I wake up ten minutes before class. In the elevator, I see an email from my professor. Class has been cancelled. I take the elevator back upstairs, drop my backpack next to my bed, and fall asleep in my clothes.

Ways to Enjoy Advent When Finals Try to Interrupt

I love, love, love Christmas and Advent. The world just feels a little different: students and teachers everywhere long for Christmas break, the ground almost seems to cry out to be covered in a blanket of snow, and the church around the world awaits the birth of Christ. Of course, we know that Christ has already come, which puts us sort of in a constant season of Advent in which we watch and wait for Christ’s return.

During the Christmas season, we recognize our current state of waiting as humankind, and we remember the birth of our Savior. I love Advent. However, sometimes during Advent it can be hard to pay attention to what’s going on cosmically because we are so focused on what’s going on academically. In reality, this almost seems a little silly; we are overwhelmed with a few tests, while we ignore the celebration of the biggest event to ever happen in history until we deal with all the other stuff first.

I wish we all, including myself, took more time to pay attention to the big picture rather than our comparatively small stressors, especially during this time of the year. Here are ways to keep Advent more on the front of your mind. Even though most of these do not have a lot to directly do with the birth of Christ, simply celebrating the season we are in should always be a reminder of the reason that we do so.

  1. Buy a jug of eggnog. I always buy Dean’s and mix it with a little milk. Whipped cream. Nutmeg. The whole shebang. Go big here.
  2. Read an Advent devotional. There are about a million out there, but I love the one from She Reads Truth (here’s today’s, and they put out an Advent book every year that is super great as well!)
  3. Take your break from homework by turning on the 25 Days of Christmas on ABC Family. Did you know they play Christmas movies basically all day, not just in the evenings? This will impact my Saturdays in big ways.
  4. Make a Christmas craft to decorate your dorm room, house, or apartment. I haven’t gotten around to this one yet, but I’m hoping to this weekend! I made a cute red-and-green garland my freshman year, and I’m hoping to recreate something similar in the coming days!
  5. Attend Vespers.
  6. Bring your roommate a cup of hot chocolate when you know that he or she is working on a big paper or studying for an exam.
  7. Mix eggnog into your coffee. You might never need to buy coffee creamer ever again. Does anyone know if you can buy eggnog year round somewhere?
  8. Attend Downtown Holland’s Parade of Lights. I went this week, expecting a really short parade, but this one was actually almost an hour long! I really enjoyed it!

    Santa
    Santa in the Parade of Lights!
  9. Visit Santa at Home and Company downtown.
  10. Bake cookies for a neighbor.
  11. Make a Christmas playlist and listen to it as you pray for snow. Be sure to include the classics, like Jump5’s All The Joy in the World, Drummer Boy by Justin Bieber, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays by *NSYNC (that link goes to the music video, and if you’ve never seen it, you have to. It’s AMAZING), and most importantly, Johnny Mathis’s “Merry Christmas” album, preferably on vinyl. Seriously, if anyone finds a copy, my parents are looking for one.
  12. Find a cheesy Christmas movie on Netflix (Christmas with the Kranks, anyone?) and listen to it (or actually watch it if you’re really skilled) as you make crafts or do homework or cook instead of listening to music.
  13. Check out the Kerstmarkt (“Christmas Market” in Dutch) downtown. I’m going tonight and I’m so excited!
  14. Attend Advent church services, chapels, and the Lessons and Carols service (Sunday, Dec. 13 at 8 PM in Dimnent Chapel)! They are all going to be so wonderful!

    Dimnent
    I always love Dimnent, but I love it extra when it’s dressed up for Christmas!
  15. Stop into Lemonjello’s for an eggnog latte. I recently filled up a punch card and I’m waiting for the opportune moment to use it on one of these.
  16. Buy an Advent calendar (99 cents at Aldi!). Eat the chocolate as a daily part of breakfast.
  17. Take time to volunteer or serve others: Decorate cookies with the residents of a nursing home, pack meals at Feed My Starving Children, or simply make a donation to an organization that you care about.
  18. Take a trip to your nearest large city and appreciate the magic of Christmas in a big downtown! I love Chicago around Christmas. Be sure to check out Macy’s, the skating ribbon at Maggie Daley Park (new last year!), Zoo Lights at the wonderful Lincoln Park Zoo (this year will be my first time going!), and Christkindlmarkt! PS, if you’re in Chicago and you’re looking for a place to eat, my FAVORITE is Coalfire Pizza. The trek out of the Loop is so worth it! Seriously, now that I’ve mentioned it, I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s so, so good.
  19. Call your mom/dad/grandparents/long-lost best friend.
  20. Take time to read the beginnings of each Gospel. While they do not all explicitly outline the story of the physical birth of Christ, they all tell stories of the coming Christ in distinct and significant ways. They are all so important!

How do you observe Advent even while you’re stressed? Let me know on Twitter (@hopekathryn17), Instagram (@kathrynekrieger), or send me an email at kathryn.krieger@hope.edu!

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
    there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice and righteousness
    from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

— Isaiah 9:6-7

 

Suddenly It’s December.

Thanksgiving just happened.

A week and a half remain in the semester.

This weird El Niño winter is dropping rain showers instead of pretty snow on campus.

It seems like October was yesterday yet now it is suddenly December and any student you ask is feeling it.

The last few weeks of the semester are a rush and a drag all at the same time. There is so much to do in too little time that there never seems to be enough time in a day. Yet the four hours you spent on that paper dragged on and on even though you still feel like you got nothing done.

It’s the time of year when stress is abundant and I find any tips to deal with it are appreciated so here are my top 3.

1. Sleep

Bulldog with glasses on sleeping on an open book
Sleep is best when a book isn’t your pillow

I tend to be a “do as I say, not as I do” kind of person with this one, but I can’t help but admit that going to bed and having brain power to be productive the next day is consistently more beneficial than staying up all night to get stuff done.

2. Crafting (or fun study break of your choice)

stockings, pinecones with glitter, a bunkbed with lots of pink post-it notes, and snowflakes hanging from a doorway.
My latest crafting exploits.

Personally, crafting is a key reliever of stress. It gets my mind on something else that is in its own right productive. Whether it be making 20 paper snowflakes, painting names on stockings, putting Post-It notes all over my roommates bunk bed, or making some Christmas pine cones with red and green glitter, stepping away from studying and school work to put my mind to another task that I can complete and feel confident about is worth the time.

3. Social time

puppies eating
Friends that eat together help eachother relax and realize they aren’t the only one acting weird because this time of semester is all kinds of crazy

As much as holing up on the fourth floor of the library sounds distraction free and full of productivity (and it might be!), taking the time to go to a meal with friends, laugh at a couple Youtube videos with your roommate, going to the Dow with your workout buddy, etc., will help you refresh, de-stress, and enjoy yourself a bit. All work and no play is no way to have a less stressful day.

Thanks for reading!

I hope you have a great week with as little stress as possible.
~Erin

57 Playlists: A Musical Dissection – Times of Day

Hello Readers! Happy Wednesday from my (unproductive) study session! I think many people would agree with me when I say that I’m beginning to realize how much I actually have to do before finals week. So naturally I’m procrastinating even more until crunch time actually begins.

And how do I procrastinate you may ask? Why, listen to music of course! Specifically, Spotify. (Praise!!!) No one can make it through such a grueling procrastination time without a little background noise. Now, if there’s one thing I really, really, REALLY want you to know about me, it’s that I take my music very seriously. I don’t just “throw on” whatever I feel like on a whim. There are specific genres, Spotify playlists, bands and songs I listen to when I’m in different moods or doing different activities. Honestly though, as a side note, I think that everyone should take their music seriously because it’s a crazy-good art form that is different from anything else. Think about it – someone made a beautiful noise by just plucking a string in different ways. Too cool. But I digress.

So, what I’m going to give you guys for the next few posts is a list of music for different times of the day and different moods that I’m in broken up by Spotify playlist, bands, and songs. Hopefully it gives you guys some different tracks to listen to and expands your horizons a little bit. Also! If you have any suggestions for me to write about, don’t be afraid to email me – I’m always open to new tunes! So without further ado, here we go.

Scenario 1: Where I am: Still in bed, 7:00 a.m. (music comes on right away when I wake up.) Mood: Sleep. I’m going to be honest, there isn’t really a mood at this point, so that’s why I have to let music determine it. 🙂 For this place/mood combo (which is the hardest for me to decide) we need a real mood maker, but not something so overbearing that will make me think too hard. In the same breath though, we don’t want something too fluffy either – that’s just an annoying day-starter.

SO the ideal music choices we have to start the day are:

  • Spotify Playlist: Early Morning Rise OR Creativity Boost
  • Band: Toss-up between The Civil Wars and Bahamas
  • Song: Breezeblocks // alt-J
The playlist Early Morning Rise for when I need a great mood in the mornings!
This is one of my go-to playlists for the mornings when I have to work at 8am. It’s a great mood setter.

Scenario 2: Where I am: The Kletz, 1:00 p.m. Mood: Content because I have a lot of things done and am writing (always a good sign). For this place/mood combo, we need something a little bit more upbeat since I’m in higher spirits, but, taking the dreary weather into account, we’re not going for just-got-my-first-job upbeat.

So the ideal music choices we have to fit this dreary Kletz day are:

  • Spotify Playlist: Feel Good Indie Rock
  • Band: Noah and the Whale
  • Song: Blue Meanies // Opossum
This is my afternoon playlist, Feel Good Indie Rock!
This is a great afternoon playlist that pulls me through until I can get to my evening playlists. 🙂

Scenario 3: Where I am: Doing homework in a cubby on the third floor of the library, 8:00 p.m. Mood: Worn out. It’s been quite the day, and I’d rather be home hanging out with my friends than doing homework. For this place/mood combo, we need something to wind down the day, but still keep me happy to be awake and centered on my homework.

So the ideal music choices we have to fit this tired library experience are:

  • Spotify Playlist: Darker Days (fitting) AND Dinnertime Acoustics (it’s going to be a long night)
  • Band: Hozier or Wild Child
  • Song: Pulaski at Night // Andrew Bird OR Levitation // Beach House
This is my playlist for library nights - Dinnertime Acoustic!
This is the playlist for my library nights, right when I’ve finished dinner. I like to believe that it helps me digest my dinner better.

In my next post we’ll be covering the ideal tunes and genres for the different seasons – one of the most controversial topics of musical discussion in my book. Let me know if you have any thoughts, opinions or music, as I’d be happy to chat you up about it and use your ideas!

Until next time readers!

* For those of you that were wondering, the title is in reference to the 57 playlists I have on Spotify. I knew they’d pay off someday.