"Music is healing. It's a really powerful thing not to be taken lightly." -Joan Jett

As you might've already guessed from the article title, and for the four people that read my articles periodically, I love rock music. It's in my soul, my heart, the soundtrack to my weird and colorful life. It's helped me through some difficult times and has helped shaped me into who I am today.

1. Swearing Helps Emphasizes Your Point

Until I entered high school, I had a cleaner mouth and avoided cussing as much as possible. I would be the one who would react in complete shock if someone said a swear: "I can't believe you said that! You said the S word!" Enter high school when I started rebelling and listening to dark, emotional music. Fuck became a favorite word for me, and I thought it made me cool to say it, knowing it pissed my parents off (sorry dad). If I was upset, swear words would follow.

2. Unorthodox Sex Eduation

Age 16 is when I had my sexual awakening and I learned a lot about sex and nasty things through dirty rock songs. From lovemaking songs, to songs about stripping, and even songs about oral sex (thank you, Nickelback). Growing up in a conservative, clean household with no porn or normal exposure to sex, and my younger self having no boyfriends, sex was a foreign thing to me. Nickelback and My Darkest Days, in their dirty, sex loving ways, taught me how fun and liberating sex can be. I didn't have porno magazines, rock music was all the porn I needed.

3. Don't Be Ashamed of Your Pain

High school was a difficult, dark time of my life filled with trauma, bullying, and insecurity. Music was my medication. I was embarrassed by my past and my demons. Once I started the period of recovery, my brother gave me the album One X by Three Days Grace. It spoke to me on such deep, personal levels. Former lead singer Adam Gontier had struggled with a drug addiction and wrote the album when he was in rehab, so the album was a personal account of pain and recovery. It's albums like this that have the biggest impact.

4. Dying Your Hair is Liberating

It wasn't until the age of 19 when I finally started changing my hair. I added a purple streak to my blonde hair, and then more colors started gracing my hair. I even changed my signature blonde hair to dark brown at 22. I wish I was as brave as Hayley Williams. Go Hayley, you rainbow rocker.

5. Being Different Rocks

At 15, I wanted to be different, stand out. Listening to Evanescence, I wanted to be just like Amy Lee. I started wearing fingerless gloves, crazy jewelry, tutu's, anything to stand out. I loved it and I'm still thriving with my tutu's.

6. Sometimes You Need to Fight

Let's face it, rock music has the best fighting songs. For the days you can't hold it in anymore, you need to lash out, scream, throw a middle finger to the world. You might as well have a bitching soundtrack to your riots.

7. Redemption is Sweet

In these ups and downs of life, we have periods of wallowing and falling, and then periods of triumph and rising above the ashes. When you do stand back up, celebrate your moment of glory, scream it from the mountains; let the world know you've made it.

8.It's Okay to Let Loose

Life is short, and we should be here for both a good time and a long time. Sometimes we need nights of loud music, good friends, and mornings where we don't remember the night before.

9. Moving On Can Be Bittersweet and That's Okay

New chapters can be sweet, and sometimes it can be nerve-wracking. But life is constantly moving forward, and it can be tough to push on. Saying goodbye can be hard, but it can be good too. Make the journey worth the ride, make it the time of your life.

10. Follow Your Dreams

Dreams are our fuel, our motivations, the things we want most of all. Whether we're halfway there, leaving out today, or taking the midnight train, it's something we must all want and something we must push ourselves towards. If you can dream it, you can do it.