Music Videos That Make Me Feel Better

Sometimes I just have a really bad day. Depression starts to rear its ugly head again, or a series of bad circumstances and frustrations leaves me feeling helpless and angry, or I'm worried about something and can't focus on anything else.

Whatever the reason the day is bad, I find music is one of the most helpful tools for me. If I can really engross myself in something musical, I can find release for a little while and come back a little bit more mentally prepared to deal with the emotions.

Depending on how bad a day I'm having, though, sometimes I can't just put on an iTunes playlist and calm myself. I need to, in a way, overwhelm my senses. I need to have something to listen to and look at. I've discovered in the last year that watching video + listening to music can be a lot more powerful than just music when it comes to fighting off horribleness.

With that in mind, I have begun compiling a playlist of "Music to Heal My Soul" on YouTube. I am filling it with music videos and clips and performances that fill me up in one way or another.

Sometimes it fills me up with joy because I can't help but smile as I watch it:

Sometimes it fills me with cathartic sadness by allowing me to cry for somebody else:

Sometimes it's a beautifully performed song that keeps me spellbound from beginning to end:



Sometimes it's a classy, elegant dance number:



And there are a few things in there that I don't exactly know why I love them so much, they just make me feel better:



I only have a couple dozen videos in the list right now, but I'm going through some of my favorite musical performances from musical movies, concerts, actual music videos (though I don't know that many of those will be in there... maybe some OK Go, though)... pretty much anything. The goal is to have a nice big collection of videos I can go to on days when I just need whatever emotions are in me to replaced by... something else. And these clips are guaranteed to do that.

If you want to check out my playlist as I add to it, it is here.

If you were making a playlist like this for yourself, what would you include?