In case you don’t know this about me already: I’m obsessed with school.

I’m a totally rigid rule-follower. One time when I was a kid, I got an A on an assignment, and I asked the teacher if there was anything I could do for extra credit to get an A+, even though there wasn’t an A+ on the grading scale.

I’m like Hermione Granger and Amy Santiago rolled into one.

When I was in sixth grade, for the first time, we had exams. It was a big deal. This meant we weren’t just kids anymore – we had exams.

I knew what I had to do:

• Rewrite all my notes in prettier colours.
• Make cute flashcards.
• And memorise everything I needed to know.

But first, I urged, I craved, the National Treasure soundtrack.

This movie had just come out and I loved it. I grew up in Virginia, just far enough away from Washington, D.C. that my biggest weekend treat was to drive into the city with my family and check out whatever historic site my dad wanted to tour, or whatever painting my mom wanted to teach me about in the National Gallery.

The idea that these weekend destinations could secretly hold clues to a massive treasure hunt was tantalisingly fun. I loved the adventure, the wittiness, and the goofiness.

I always wanted to do well in school to get good grades, but this movie painted academia in a new and glamorous light: if you study hard enough, you’ll be ready to decode that map on the back of the Declaration of Independence when the time comes.

Thankfully, my mom obliged me, and drove me to Barnes & Noble to buy the CD. Every day after school I would pop it into my yellow boombox, and listen through the entire thing while I prepared for my exams.

When you have the right music in your ears, your life becomes cinematic and purposeful.

Before every live event I run, I sing through my ‘Karaoke Solo’ playlist of showtunes that fill me with confidence.

At uni I played The Social Network soundtrack every time I typed up my notes. There is no better ‘typing things up’ music out there, I promise you.

Every morning, I play my YAYlist of top 10 favourite songs of the moment while I sip my morning coffee and have my journaling time. I’m constantly updating this to make sure that every single song on this list makes me want to dance around the coffeeshop.

THE LESSON:

Listening to music is an easy, accessible way to infuse your life with art.

Give it the meaning and attention it deserves, and allow it to aid your imagination.

In, Everyday Wonderland, I curate a special  Soundtrack every month, and guide you in invoking the muse. 

Have a look inside!