🦆 CHILL THE DUCK OUT

Volume 004: Off-Key, On-Purpose

🧠 Cold Open

Let’s get one thing straight: you do not need to be good at music for it to be good for you. If you are a talented or fairly talented musician, keep on keeping on. Send me your band’s t-shirt.

Whether you’re drumming on a table, humming like a confused monk, or singing aggressively off-key in the car - you’re doing emotional regulation. Like, actual brain science stuff.

This week’s reminder? Make some noise. On purpose. Loud, soft, weird, whatever. You’re not auditioning for anything. You’re just helping your body remember how to feel joy.

And if it happens to annoy your neighbors a little? Bonus dopamine.

🎶 This Week’s Happytizer: DIY Soundtrack Therapy

Pick one way to make music this week, even if it’s weird or chaotic. The goal is to move energy, not impress anyone.

Ideas:
🥁 Bang on some containers like a rhythm God
🎤 Sing to your dog (bonus if your dog joins in)
🎹 Play the 3 chords you remember from middle school
🎧 Use a music app to loop weird sounds like you’re scoring an indie film

🧠 Why it works:
Making music activates your limbic system, which processes emotions. It also taps your vagus nerve - a major player in calming your nervous system. Studies show musical self-expression reduces anxiety, boosts serotonin, and improves focus.

😌 Stress-Less Hack: Turn It Into a Ritual

Pick a short daily window and make it your “noise therapy” time.

📅 Set a 5-minute timer
🎶 Make sounds (yes, really)
🧘‍♂️ Then just sit in the after-vibe for a bit

You’ll start to train your nervous system to shift from chaos to calm on cue.

🧠 Why it helps:
Repetition creates neural pathways. Meaning: if you associate making music with feeling better, your brain learns to get there faster each time. (You’re basically Pavlov-ing yourself. With tambourines.)

✨ Unsolicited Joy of the Week

A shelter cat named Roo became the frontman of a metal band called Cattera - a real, purring, growling, headbanging musical project.

The vocals? Roo’s actual meows.
The band? 100% committed.
The vibe? Rage against the litter box.

They raised money for shelter animals and gave the world exactly what it didn’t know it needed: feline-fronted heavy metal.

👉 Meet Cattera and watch Roo shred (vocally)

🔥 Micro-Challenge

Make music. Just once. This week.

Doesn’t matter what or how. Clap, hum, whistle, freestyle a sad ballad about your inbox.

The goal? Move some energy, shake some stuck-ness loose, and feel 2% better.

🧠 Why it helps:
We carry tension in our bodies. Music gets it out - through breath, rhythm, and silliness.

💬 Tell me what you made

Did you hum a tune, beatbox on a salad bowl, or duet with your dog? I want to hear about it. Bonus points if it was chaotic.

📩 [email protected]
👉 www.chilltheduckout.com

And if this gave you a permission slip to feel better in 4/4 time, share it with a friend…
or I’ll assume you hate fun and silence your inner tambourine.

🫶 Duckin’ Done

That’s Volume 004. This week, be the songbird, the kazoo, the wild-eyed sound alchemist you were born to be.

Make a little noise. Your nervous system will thank you.
And so will the part of you that forgot how good it feels to play.

Until next time: stay loud, stay soft, and chill the duck out.

— Jason
Editor-in-Chill 🦆