I found myself in a pretty awful mood the other day.

I was irritable and a little tense, probably stressed out about a paper or a test. I had made plans to drop by the Neutral Ground for Open Mic Night, but because of my mood, I wasn’t especially keen on going.

Then, a turning point. A good friend of mine let me take her car to pick up a few kids who wanted to come along.

This was truly a miracle in itself, seeing as I should never be allowed behind the wheel of any vehicle, which leads me to believe that any resulting events were sanctioned by God.

During the brief three-minute drive between the Neutral Ground and Loyola, I slipped a Led Zeppelin album into the CD player and turned up the volume until I couldn’t possibly be cognizant of any honks or screaming pedestrians. And so it began.

It started with quiet singing along, then head bobbing, then a half-hearted fist pump along with the drum beat.

As Jimmy Page played and Robert Plant wailed, I felt my sullen mood dissolve with each passing verse.

I steadily became less inhibited, my voice grew louder and my movements more erratic.

Finally, amid screaming guitars and crashing cymbals, I proceeded to rock out with every fiber of my being.

You’ve pulled up next to people like me.

Anyone who might have been stuck at a red light behind or beside me would have beheld my unabashed rocking.

With moves akin to a seizure or a psychological episode, I was singing as loud as I could, playing imaginary drums on the steering wheel and swinging myself around as best I could in such a small space.

Again I say that this rockage was divinely inspired, or else I’d have never made it safely back to campus.

When I did pull up at Loyola, my hair was a mess, my throat was sore and I felt ten times better.

Of course, I don’t know how much rocking you guys do, but I say today that it isn’t enough.

With such a catharsis at your fingertips, it seems to me that rocking out should be as daily as brushing one’s teeth or putting on pants.

Rock alone, rock as a group, rock in the park. To make it even easier, you can rock out to just about anything, if your heart is in it.

Whether you prefer Ashlee Simpson or Pink Floyd, Outkast or Jethro Tull, the spasmodic abandonment of worry that your favorite artist induces is a priceless therapy.

You can even rock out to political talk radio if that’s what does it for you.

What’s more, rocking out is good for the body as well as the soul.

Approximately one hour of dancing – or flailing about – burns 600 to 800 calories. So no holding back, folks.

Some people pick fights, some people meditate.

I rock.