22 Albums That Changed My Life (Part 3)

So we went through the albums that shaped my teenage and early adulthood years — now here come the stuff that shaped me as a grown-up.  Note that these span longer years than the earlier eras, because as an adult my palate has already been formed and it became harder to …

Music as the Mood Regulator

So continuing on yesterday’s post, the best practice is to feel whatever “negative” emotion you have first, and then steer it toward a more desirable outlook. That’s easier said than done. Yesterday I had an incident where I got very mad.  Except I realized that I can’t get 100% mad. …

Bon Jovi, Metallica and Pursuing What We Need

Do you think it’s phony, Jon Bon Jovi writing about struggles of blue-collar workers?  How about James Hetfield talking about self-destruction in the latest Metallica album?  These are multi-millionaire rock stars.  What do they know about the reality of common folks?  Sure, they are self-made men who climbed up the …

Metallica’s “Frantic” and Metal’s Power to Channel Our Inner Pain

When a person has abundant life energy, we aptly describe that state as “full of life.”  Kids, particularly young boys, can be very active.  That’s not to say that people who go about life at a more leisurely pace aren’t as full of life, but a typical way in which life energy …