Music is a friend to me.  A friend who can make me relaxed, when I am tired or stressed. A friend who can make me feel encouraged when I am depressed or demotivated. A friend who makes me understand the feeling of others. A friend who accompanies me when I am alone…

I think music is a form of art which most of us can understand and enjoy. It is different from any other form of art because you can enjoy it wherever you are, whenever you want. There is a list of songs that I love, not just because of their melody, the feelings that I feel when I am listening to it, is enjoyable. Sometimes I can feel the anger against inequality; sometimes I can feel the sadness from the loss of loved ones; sometimes I can feel the excitement behind the success. The emotion can be shared through music, music acts like an invisible string that connects people around the world together. I love to listen to music when I am alone or when I am sad, I use music to escape from reality, to take a break from all the stress and work.

In a time of anxiety and social distancing, what can we do to look out for one another?

It is definitely a hard time for all of us and because of this, we need to work together and face our common enemy together. During the coronavirus outbreak, I think we can do the following in order to help one another. It is not a good idea to meet friends face to face under the current situation so talk or chat online is a good way to express our feelings and get connected with people around us. first, frequent communication with friends and family through the internet. Sometimes it is hard to digest our own negative feelings alone, especially when we have to keep social distancing which is against our human nature, hence it is good to have someone to talk to and help you get through difficult times even though it is not facing to face. Second, we should spread positivity. When we look at the increasing number of confirmed cases and death every day, we will feel anxiety and this feeling will be further reinforced when we cannot meet our friends and family members. During this major time, everyone should help to spread some positivity. This can be as simple as just stop complaining or can be telling others about the positive side of this situation. Third, we should use time wisely and do something meaningful. As we all moved on to remote learning, we all have more spare time, which I believe is a good thing. We need to use this time at home wisely, to do something that is beneficial to us and try not to waste precious time. We can use this free time to develop our wellbeing, such as to exercise, draw, read, bake, etc.  and recommend what you think is meaningful to your friends and people around you!

 

What songs matter to you now？What kind of music have you been listening to recently? How do certain songs or artists make you feel? What songs do you think are important or significant right now?

Due to the current circumstances, everyone has to stay at home for safety considerations, so I like to listen to songs that are hopeful and motivating. One song that I often listen to recently is Counting Stars by OneRepublic. I love this song because some of the lyrics are matching what I feel now and matching with the current situation as well. For example, ” Lately I been, I been losing sleep” this reflects my current status, which is not being able to sleep, it is just I think my sleep quality is not as good. Because of this, I actually think a lot and reflect a lot at night, and I believe I got benefits from that. This matches the following lyrics “I been praying hard. Said no more counting dollars we will be counting stars” in the normal daily routine, people are too busy to work on school works or manage businesses so we are paying less attention to the environment and the people around us. Therefore, when we all have the chance to slow things down and stay at home, I realized that staying home is not as bad as I thought and instead, I found that I have not been staying with my family or accompany them for so long and it feels so nice to spend the night or afternoons to video call them every day and we share news and updates together. It is just simple activities but I enjoy them more than anything. It is just like the lyrics when people should not value money so much and hopes to “count money” but instead enjoy the time with people that we love and care and the environment that we are situated in, one simple activity like “counting stars” together would make us feel at peace.