My Favorite 10 Minutes of The Day

Every weekday for the past 19 years I've been waking up at 6am to drive my kids to school. At 6:30am, I head out to the car, connect my phone to the radio, navigate to my Playlists in the YouTube app, and hit the shuffle button. What unfolds is 10 minutes of pure joy as I enjoy the surprise of what song is going to play just as much as I love the music itself.

As I sit there and wait for my dear cherub to come out to the car, I crank it up and just enjoy whatever song comes on. Today‘s first song was A Moment Apart by OSDEZA. It was perfect for what I needed to get started for today.

The next song was Sheryl Crow’s “Strong Enough”. Not exactly my idea of a “wake-up” song, but this morning the song really hit me in a different way than it ever has before.

As I drove down the street, Clearwater Credence Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” came on and it was the perfect vibe to feel hopeful about whatever today may bring. (Hopefully not rain, we have a lot of work to do outside!)

After I got home the song “Take a Picture” by Filter came. Naturally, I had to snap a photo of this once I was safely parked back in my driveway. And then immediately make a mental note I need to get in there with the Q-tips to dust things off!

It’s these 10 minutes of synchronicity and great music that totally help put me in a clear-headed and good mood for the day.

I crank it up, I sing along, I dance a little - Today it made me think of all the good times I’ve had sharing the music I love with people and just how good it feels when you’re with someone who sings and grooves along with you.

I know it might seem crazy, but it has seriously become one of my favorite parts of the day. As a bonus, the music also becomes the perfect conversation while waiting for the bus or sitting in ridiculously long traffic of dropping kids off at school.

This is Also a Really Good Coping Skill!

Over the years, I've also realized that this is an excellent trick to do if you ever need a timeout or a reset when you're feeling a lot of emotions and are not exactly sure how to handle them. The music can totally put you in a different place mentally and emotionally.

In the mornings, it gets me from half-asleep and irritable into feeling groovy in no time. If I'm out somewhere and drama unfolds, it gets me back to feeling more at peace instead of being angry or upset.

Here's some examples of songs I've played during my alone times in a car to just chill out + process heavy emotions, anger and more:

These aren't happy songs by any means, but they are good songs to play when you're mad and upset and just need a timeout. Sitting in a parked car is nice because the music won't bother anyone, you can shut out what other people are doing while you listen and you can work through whatever you're thinking about without resorting to having an outburst or getting other people upset and angry.

It works for playing happier songs too, although I don't usually take a photo when those kinds of songs come on, I'm too busy grooving and singing along!

Next Friday, June 5th, will be my official last day of this ritual - the youngest will be able to drive herself to school next year. And while I won’t be doing this so early in the morning in freezing temperatures ever again, I do think it’s a great hack for a way to take a timeout, clear your head and open yourself up to the surprise of possibility of what song might play and what mood it puts you in.

And of course, the next ten minutes of my day is pretty nice, too. This is when I say good morning to all the cats and give them breakfast. Burrito is typically the first in line.

If you'd like to listen to what I listen to and use the YouTube music app, here is a link to all of my playlists on there: https://www.youtube.com/@ChelleStein/playlists

I will also be importing a lot of my music + songwriting posts over this weekend so if you're into that sort of thing make sure you're subscribed for free updates and I'll let you know when it's live!