When Music, My Brain, Nerds & Positive Thinking Collide

The blog got a (sort of) surprise plug on my favourite podcast today – and I’m taking it as a reward for making an effort to think a little more positively.

Here’s my morning audio routine: listen to music on the train (this week it’s been the new Dear Rouge album, which is magnificent and invigorating… and more on that in a later post) then the Nerdist Podcast on my walk from the train station to work. I was in a bit of a funk this morning. But rather than bathe in it all day so that it seeps into every pour on its way to spreading more horribleness into the world, I just focused on the uplifting sounds of Dear Rouge. In my weeklong obsession with the band, I’ve had some thoughts, so on the train I decided to jot down some of those thoughts into my phone, which I planned on using in a list post for the blog. Boom: Positive Effort #1.

But, somehow, while listening to the end of the previous episode of the Nerdist Podcast early in my walk, the darkness started to creep in a bit. No fault of the podcast, I think my mind just started to wander. But I said, “No, asshole (the asshole being my mind). We’re not doing that.” Then, just like it did a couple weeks ago with “Simmer,” my brain started playing some music. It was the opening bass line from The White Stripes’ “The Hardest Button to Button.” It put a little strut in my step, a little tingle in the skin. So I had to detour away from the usual routine for a moment and spin that tune. It was just what I needed to strut myself into a better mindset. So thank you, Jack and Meg, for that one. Positive Effort #2.

Then it was back to Nerdist. Episode #670, with Dave Holmes. For the past couple of months, host Chris Hardwick and company have instituted a nice little addition to the show called the Nerdist Community Cork Board, where listeners can write in to promote things they’re doing or making, then the guys plug these things in the opening of the podcast. Exactly one week ago I shot off an email to events@nerdist.com touting the blog and my love for the podcast. I didn’t expect anything to come of it. I assumed they get tons of requests for plugs and even if they did get around to me, it wouldn’t be for weeks or months.

But it happened today, exactly one week later. They don’t usually post new episodes on Thursdays – usually Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. But this morning, on a whim, I thought I’d check. And there it was. So I downloaded it.

I started off this post saying this plug was a reward for turning my thinking from negative to positive. Obviously, they didn’t record that opening to the podcast in between the time I changed my outlook and when I turned on the podcast. Obviously Chris Hardwick and Kyle Clark (who talked about the blog) didn’t know I was going to download the podcast today, feel funky, change my outlook, then listen to the podcast for the big reward. But there’s something there, even if it doesn’t really make sense.

There is a power to positivity. I know this is no secret. Even though there’s that whole book about it called The Secret. And, believe me, I am no expert at positive thinking. I try, but it’s not the easiest thing to do, especially when you have a brain that easily tilts toward anxiety. But I have noticed that, often, when I try it works. Something, however small or large, happens for the better.

There is definitely an equal power to negativity. That’s why there’s a battle. It’s the battle in my brain. It’s the battle between nations and religions. It’s the battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire, between G.I. Joe and Cobra, Autobots and Decepticons, Vin Diesel and the evil car drivers (I’ve never seen a Fast & Furious movie). All those fictional stories show us that the good guys win. And I’m going to use this morning’s positive outlook – and outcome – to believe that fiction can become reality.

Go team! Rah rah! Touchdowns and home runs!

What? I’m still new to all this.

Anyway, thank you for helping affirm my positivity, Nerdist crew. And, as they say at the end of each Nerdist Podcast… Enjoy your burrito!

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