"My Soundtrack to Living: How Music Breathes Live Into My Days" by Jen Cogliano
Every morning, I follow the same ritual. I turn on the television just long enough to catch the weather forecast, then switch it off. What comes next is the most important part of my day…
I turn on music.
For the next several hours, lyrics and rhythms fill my home, transforming what might otherwise be a quiet, solitary day into something vibrant and full of life.
Living with cystic fibrosis (CF) for 54 years has taught me countless lessons about resilience, but perhaps none as joyful as this: music heals me.
It started when I was a teenager. I was drawn to songs I couldn't quite explain but felt deeply in my bones. Back then, I didn't fully understand why belting out lyrics made me feel so good. Now I know that singing literally opens my airways, turning each song into both celebration and pulmonary therapy. When I sing with passion, my lungs expand, my breath deepens, and for those precious moments, the physical act of making music becomes its own form of medicine.
The power of music extends far beyond the physical, it is an emotional outlet. Living with CF means navigating a complex emotional landscape of fear, frustration, hope, determination, and everything in between. There are songs for every one of those feelings. During my country era, I found stories of heartache and perseverance. Heavy metal and rock gave me an outlet for anger and intensity. Pop and dance music get me moving, which is crucial when you have lung disease. Rap empowers me with its bold confidence. And when I need peace, meditative and spiritual music wraps around me like a gentle embrace.
The lyrics are perhaps what I treasure most. They give voice to emotions I might otherwise keep locked inside. Songs become the words I need when my own fail me, helping me process difficult seasons and celebrate triumphant ones. Each genre offers a different kind of healing, a different vocabulary for the human experience.
I won't claim to have the most beautiful singing voice, but beauty isn't the point. What matters is the passion I feel, and the empowerment that surges through me when I sing. I believe deeply in the mind-body connection, and music is where that connection comes alive for me. When I sing, I'm not just exercising my lungs; I'm affirming my existence, my joy, and my refusal to let illness define the boundaries of my life.
Music has become my companion, my therapist, my cheerleader, and my refuge. It doesn't cure my cystic fibrosis, but it makes living with it infinitely richer. Every day, it reminds me that life, even with its challenges, deserves a soundtrack—and mine helps get me through most days and situations.