Did you enter 2026 with the dread of having to return to work?

YOU WEREN’T ALONE. I felt the same way, and so did many others in this space besides just us 2. It’s no surprise we’re feeling this: 📖 chronic stress builds up as we expend energy in our job (and it snowballs as we anticipate the inevitable stress). The effect compounds because we feel like we’re forced to be in a place that does the opposite of feeding our soul, ripping us away from our extended rest and recuperation.

With that in mind, I feel compelled to re-iterate the music heals mission. This space is for reflecting, and doing so with the perspective that music has healing powers. As a proudly self-proclaimed amateur pianist, I complement reflections with the emotional-wellness tool of music (from my 🎶 magical studio filled with candles, owls, and plants) in the hopes that it’ll aid you in connecting with the mystical part of music that somehow inspires and brings joy. And by the way, I’m not the only person doing this: there’s 📖 this nurse who uses his ukulele to ease his patients' pain and 📖 this doctor who brings a record player and set of vinyls to provide some relief for his patients.

My time navigating online communities and media in the past few years has taught me that there really is no escaping the chaos of the news or advertisement machine. On top of that, the stress-filled curve-balls from work, budgeting, and illness-management seem to pop up all the time.

OKAY… huge bummer… I’m sorry for bringing that all up.

What I’m trying to say is: if we can reliably ANTICIPATE that these up-ticks in stress will occur AND reach for our WELLNESS TOOLS to cope in-the-moment, then perhaps WE’RE ACTUALLY READY to weather the storm. Because we’ve BUILT RESILIENCE over time.

In 2026, I’m treating these like 🌿 weeds in the garden. As they sprout up, I’ll tend to them one by one. Aiming to pluck out the whole root, but expecting the weed to somehow (miraculously) re-emerge in another week. Little by little, weeding the garden seems entirely manageable (because I’ll stop before becoming exhausted).

These emails are a reminder that you can RELY ON MUSIC as one of your wellness tools navigating further into 2026. This newsletter is a zero-obligation zone, and at the bottom of the each email, I invite you to pause your subscription for a month at a time (or unsubscribe entirely) so that you can de-clutter your inbox.

But I hope you’ll stick around with me, because something magical is coming (that I simply don’t want to spoil right now).