I looked around on similar personal essays that, summoned up, described pretty much the same effects of music; increased focus, finding community, improved mood and forming identity.

Same goes for the more scientific perspective in clearforkacademy.com. They mentioned following: Music can help emotional regulation/control, identity, finding community/belonging and mental health aspects such as; music aids emotional processing and mood regulation, it's used for studying, sleep, workouts and coping.

Something else that they mentioned was ''acts of voice for difficult emotions'', and this caught my eye because it strongly describes why music is necessary for my daily life. As a person that struggles to verbally express themself to others, I find great help from art such as writing, drawing and, of course, music. It assists me through thoughts and emotions that wash over me during both day and night, just like a helping hand. This leads to me feeling more at ease and physically feel lighter when one's mind isn’t a total mess.

Allow me to demonstrate; I don't like emotions since once they're there; I don't know how to handle them, I just feel them tear me apart from the inside, guttering me alive. So, if I'm angry, I don't know how to handle that overwhelming feeling bubbling up, so I play this rougher and more aggressive music to, sort of, 'counterattack' this emotion. Using louder and stronger sounds sort of stills those thoughts.

Music allows me to project my emotions without me having to express them myself, you feel me? Instead of screaming and hitting something, I blast music to still relieve the pent-up stress, just in a different way that doesn't harm me nor anyone else. It can contain low bass tunes, drilling drums, guttural vocals and screaming guitars and It'll somehow soothe me.

Different songs can motivate me into either studying, planning, working out, do chores and even help me sleep. It's also a great source of inspiration for drawing or just having it play in the background. Something I personally love is to listen to music while daydreaming as I walk or travel, it’s a safe space where I can escape real life’s troubles.

It is a good coping mechanism, that I often use, since it helps me go through emotions. Melancholic music can bring me comfort and the feeling that I'm not alone in what I'm feeling. Aggressive music can relieve pent up energy and allow me to express myself. Sometimes I find some songs which lyrics’ defines my thoughts, personality, life, opinions, mindset, etc. It's songs like those that provide a sense of belonging or community for me.

I decided to look around and ask other people my age and noted that music, most of the time, has a strong effect on the mood. Additionally, that it can help with studying, work, motivation, etc. This is also backed up by science that you’ll get a sneek-peek about later on in this personal essay.

I interviewed two fellow friends, I'll call them A and J, and this is how it went:

The first question was 'Would you consider music as an important part of your life?'

To that, A explained that she thinks music is a form of self-expression that's also tied to an important part of her identity. She also said: ''I don't make music, but I feel like the music I listen to does affect my own mood quite a lot.''

J thought that music is an entertaining part of her life and that it cheers her up when she's sad.

When it comes to listening hours, it turns out they had varied answers. A said she listens every day for several hours whether it plays in the background for doing schoolwork, walking to school, etc. J, on the other hand, said she listened to music about every other/third day (if you don't count TikTok clip's music).

The last question was 'Tell me about how music can help with, for example, daily life. Like in general.'

A mentioned that it can help you relax or disconnect from everything else. ''For those people who make music I'd say it's a really important form of self-expression.'' She claimed. 

J added: ''I think it can help with motivation because doing, like, boring chores, is something you have to do. Or it can also help with focus, that you listen to music while doing something else.'' Which is similar to what A responded to the second question. 

To answer my headline, it's different from person to person. While others find music irrelevant, some people might use it as a strength to just get through the day. I just happen to be one of those where music is my drug that I chug and quite literally can’t stay sane without, yippie!