About this quote

Art has a weird power to hijack your mood and push your thoughts in directions you did not choose. We like to think we are in full control of our minds, but the media we consume acts like a silent programmer. A bombastic song or a dark film can stir up feelings that feel foreign to who we actually are. Pay attention to what you let into your head on a daily basis. If you feel sudden agitation or anxiety, look at your playlist first.

When to use it

• My gym partner started blasting aggressive death metal during a basic warm-up, making me feel like I was about to go to war. I had to tell him to turn it down before I tried to bench press the entire rack.
• While working on a simple budget spreadsheet, my coworker played epic movie battle soundtracks. I told him we needed to switch to lo-fi beats before I started treating quarterly taxes like a medieval siege.
• After binging a dark true-crime documentary series all weekend, I found myself suspicious of the mailman. I realized I needed to watch a silly sitcom immediately to reset my brain.