Welcome to Power Picks! Power Picks is a monthly series that showcases the things that help us navigate our lives, empower us to be ourselves, and simply get through each day. We hope that by sharing what makes us feel great, you will feel great too.

At any given moment of the day, I am listening to music. My apartment is like a little record store and Spotify is always up on my computer. And I find inspiration for almost all of my creative endeavors, whether it be writing, drawing, or film, from music. I can't imagine leaving home without my headphones, my link to creativity, passion, and sanity. The wires took time to disconnect, were often cut by inanimate objects or my reckless arms, and were too short to keep the phone in my bag while connected. So my life became infinitely simpler when I received the best Christmas present: a pair of Powerbeats Pro earphones.

When earbuds became fashionable a few years ago, I resisted the craze, despite my frustration with the wires. Their rigidity hurt my ears (the smaller ones, obviously), and the lack of enveloping support caused them to constantly pop out of my tiny ears, get caught in my hair, and fall into dirty streets.

The Powerbeats Pro earbuds, on the other hand, are soft and flexible, with four different plush ear-tip sizes to choose from, so my little ears don't hurt after an hour of listening. Plus, the lightweight earhooks bend easily, so you won't have any trouble putting them on. When I had a new cartilage piercing a few months ago, the Powerbeats bent back enough to completely avoid hitting the painful area.

I am always impressed with the ease of use of these earbuds. I have many Bluetooth speakers, but all of them have given me a hard time at some point when I try to connect or disconnect my devices; the Powerbeats are not only easy to connect to my phone or computer every time, but they are also sensed when I remove them from my ears Powerbeats are built to sense when they are removed from your ears. Powerbeats also have a long battery life (9 hours), ideal for someone like me who forgets to recharge regularly (currently at 13%). 13%).

There is another thing I like about these earphones: they are suitable for athletes. I took up running during the pandemic (cliché) and the Powerbeats didn't budge a bit during my run. The soft, lightweight construction is also perfect for exercise, and if there's no music playing, you'll forget you're wearing it. In addition, the waterproof finish makes them useful for long, sweaty runs in the summer or sudden rainstorms in early spring.

Finally, Powerbeats make sense to me because they allow me to take one of the most precious things in the world, music, with me wherever I go. Immersing myself in something that makes me feel happy, powerful, and creative can turn my mood and my day around. I have synesthesia and can "see" music as color (hard to explain), so the psychological and sensory impact of being able to play whatever song I want whenever I want is tremendous.

While my love of music and listening to music while running is not particularly novel, my love for Powerbeats runs deep. These particular earpods have solved every problem I have ever had with portable listening devices. It works so easily and seamlessly that it feels like an extension of my psyche and it is no exaggeration to say that I cannot get through a day without it.