I have a new love in my life. It's the iPod!! Yes...to most of you, this is not "new" at all. In fact some would ask "who doesn't have an iPod?" Well, I just recently was handed-down my son's old iPod. At first, I downloaded a couple of songs - then I realized that it had enough memory to download almost all of the songs that we have on our computer!! So, I did just that - I downloaded all of the songs that were on our computer. For the first little while, I don't think I actually listened to one song all the way through - but I was so excited to flip through song-by-song. All of this great music that I forgot we even had, was sitting here all this time! I was spending a fair bit of time flipping through - when a thought occurred to me...I have been trying really hard to find a reason to get back on the treadmill. This was the perfect reason! I could walk and flip through song-by-song. So, this is what I did. I killed one hour walking on the treadmill being my own personal DJ. Now, I'm not gonna lie. At first it took some coordination to not get my hands tangled in the speaker wires and send my poor new little friend flying across the room. But once I got the hang of it, it was super easy to walk for that hour while listening to some tunes! This was my first bit of inspiration I got from my iPod. As days went on further - I found myself actually listening to the songs all the way through. I was amazed at some of the lyrics. Even though I knew the lyrics (always singing along) - I wasn't really "listening" to them. But when I finally did - it was truly inspiring. There are some songs that read better than any novel I've read. They tell a complete story from beginning to end. I would imagine that story would be different for each listener. For example: Bridge Over Troubled Water - after my third attempt of trying to listen to the complete song without blubbering like a fool, I imagined that the song might be written by a friend-for a friend who was going through the devastating effects of cancer treatments. The kind of friend who's gonna be there and not fear the awkward moments or ever use the excuse "I can't bear to see them that way". The kind of friend that, in the middle of the worst day of your life, can still manage at some moment to bring a smile to your face. Now I really couldn't manage to get through the song without balling!!
When you're in need of some inspiration, try re-listening to some of your favourite songs. Try imagining who or what they might be written about. You might just be surprised how it can change what you will write for that day.