A playlist for a new start

As you may or may not know, I am moving to Nottingham on Friday to start my Masters in Magazine Journalism. So, as you’d expect, I’m currently extremely nervous and excited on equal levels. Obviously, whenever you start something new there’s always an element of doubt in your mind – questions like ‘am I making the right decision?’, ‘will I like it?’, ‘what if I’m rubbish at it and make no friends?’ have all crossed my mind among with many others over the past few weeks. But despite all the overthinking I’m doing, I know that I’m ready to do this. I’ve been to uni once, and this time it’s only for one year and it’s doing something I am really passionate about and will hopefully make a career from.

So, to calm my nerves and empower me to believe that this new start is exactly what I need and I’m going to love it, I’ve put together a playlist that hopefully you guys can appreciate too whether you’re also starting uni, college, a new school year or pretty much anything that’s daunting for you. Hope you enjoy!

• I Believe In You – Michael Buble

Another scary thing I did this month was leave my job. My first ever job that I’ve had for three years and had gained so much from. Leaving was so emotional and hard for me but I know I am going on to bigger and better things. I first heard this song at work, and it always made me smile – even when I had been in since 6am! It’s such a positive, uplifting song which makes me feel like I can do anything!

• Take A Breath – Jonas Brothers

This is one of my favourite songs of all time and always will be. When I was younger I used to listen to this song and believe that things would get better. The whole message of the song is that life goes on, just remember to take a breath and move on and things will turn out fine. My favourite lyric from it is ‘we blink our eyes, life’s rearranged, to our surprise it’s still okay’. Yes, awful, crazy things are always going to happen in life and we cannot stop them, but even though things change, it’ll be okay. After all, change isn’t always a bad thing.

• Change – Taylor Swift

Keeping on the theme of change! This is also one of my favourite songs of all time and I’m pretty sure it’s featured on several of my playlists before. ‘These things will change, can you feel it now? these walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down.’ Have you ever heard more empowering lyrics? I just love it so much – the whole message of the song, that no matter what life throws at you, you can make it through.

• Laura Palmer – Bastille 

Can always count on Bastille for a good anthem. I don’t know what it is about this song, but I always feel so empowered and inspired when I hear it. I feel like it could be the backing track for an epic movie where you’re running through the forest and across the desert and conquering the world. I don’t know where I got that image from, but again I just feel like I can do anything when I hear this song!

• Power – Little Mix

Recently I’ve been belting this out at every moment because it seems to be constantly in my head! I love it though, as you'd expect from Little Mix it’s a proper girl power anthem and makes me so hyped up and ready for whatever life throws at me. I GOT THE POWER.

• Change Is Gonna Come – Olly Murs

I’m sure this has also been on quite a few of my playlists before, haha. I’d have to class it as one of my all-time faves too just because it is one of the most positive songs I know and never fails to put a smile on my face. ‘We’ve learned to walk but now it’s time to run, CHANGE IS GONNA COME!’. I mean, try belting that without believing that you can conquer the world. You can’t.

• Good Ol’ Days – The Script

Ah, The Script do have some bangers, don’t they? I love the idea that ‘in the future, these will be the good old days’ – appreciate and live your life to the fullest right now because some day you’ll be looking back at these very moments and wishing you could have them back.

• The Great Escape – Boys Like Girls

Do I even have to explain why I picked this song? The song itself does all the talking, it just makes me really happy and again makes me feel free and like I can do anything!

• It’s Time – Imagine Dragons

I was so obsessed with this song back in the day. (That makes it sound so old when it’s literally only about 5 years old but anyway). ‘It’s time to begin’ – yes, it is. And I am ready to put my all into it.

• Let It Be – Labrinth

This is another song that they played all the time at work, so not only does it remind me of that but I just think it’s a really cool song. When I was at work and this would come on I’d suddenly get a little burst of energy from it because it seems like such a determined song, if that makes sense. Like hearing it makes you determined to accomplish whatever you want to.

• Neon River – Keane

This song just makes me smile so much. It’s all about starting over and not being afraid of the future, following your destiny and reaching for your dreams. My favourite lyric is ‘everything that we’ve been dreaming of, we’ll make it real one day’.

• Ready To Run – One Direction

Obviously I couldn’t make a playlist without including a One Direction song, let’s be real. I know you were waiting for it. This is one of my favourite 1D songs because as with all the other songs, it makes me super happy and makes me feel like I can do anything.

• Quicksand – Tom Chaplin

In case you hadn’t heard of him, Tom Chaplin is the lead singer of Keane and I believe this was his first solo single. It is so inspiring and uplifting and it’s basically saying that whatever you’re going through, you’ll work it out and get through it. That kind of you fall down, you get up, dust yourself off and get on with it sort of attitude which sometimes is exactly what you need.

• Breakaway – Kelly Clarkson

This song is the definition of nostalgia for me. Not to be cheesy, but I used to sing this in my bedroom when I was about 6 or 7 I think, and dream of one day breaking away just like it says in the song. I used to relate to this song so hard because I was such a quiet kid and I had dreams that one day I’d break out of my shell and become the person I wanted to be. Well, 6 year old me, I hope I’ve done you proud.

• Brave – Sara Bareilles

I completely forgot about this song until I rediscovered it on another Spotify playlist and remembered how much I loved it! Again, like all the others it’s such a sweet and empowering song and inspires me to be brave and dive head-first into this new opportunity.

• Fire Under My Feet – Leona Lewis

Leona Lewis is so underrated nowadays which is a shame because her newer music is also really good! This song is a couple of years old now but it shares just the message that I wanted this playlist to have – nothing’s going to stand in my way.

• I Lived – One Republic

I had to finish my playlist with this classic. Yes, I believe I’ve included this in a few playlists before but you cannot have an empowering playlist without this song. I don’t make the rules. This song is literally the definition of inspiration. I adore it so so much, every time I hear it, I get goosebumps because it just makes me want to go on adventures and have stories to tell when I’m older so that I can truly tell everyone that I lived.

I hope you enjoyed this playlist as much as I did, and maybe it even inspired you if you’re feeling nervous about a new start as well. You can listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/user/clarelxuise/playlist/2YmYLiSZTXtJqVtCuc5gCa 

It’s amazing how much music helps me in any situation, and just hearing one of these songs can make me feel like I can achieve anything. Good luck to anyone else who’s also starting uni at the moment, or starting college and new school terms. Life can be daunting but just remember that no matter what you’ll get through it with a bit of belief that you can and a little hard work. I believe in you!

Which songs inspire you to make a new start? Let me know in the comments, and I’d love to hear your opinions on this playlist, I always love hearing from you guys!

As always thank you so much for reading, x