For as long as I can remember, I’ve turned to music when questioning life and making major decisions. While some find solace in prayer, going to church or synagogue, I simply go to my iTunes playlist.

Blasphemy?

To some.

For me, not so much. My criteria is simple.

Major life questioning: Switchfoot

Simply unwinding: John Mayer

Nostalgic for my childhood: Backstreet Boys

And my most recent addition:

Sheer disbelief and being thankful: Pat Benatar

The last category is currently my favorite. You see, last month I interviewed the infamous Pat Benatar. The original “Heartbreaker” and the singer who will forever be known with her declaration, “Love Is a Battlefield.”

I’m still in disbelief myself.

A few days after my interview I got word that a friend of a friend had a pair of tickets to her New York show. Naturally I went.

While my avid church-going grandmother will surely roll over in her grave as I type this, I had more of a religious experience standing a few feet from the stage at Nokia Theatre than I have ever witnessed in a church. As Pat Benatar sang her second song, “Shadows of the Night” an overwhelming feeling of gratefulness enveloped me.

I’m living the life I’ve always dreamed of — interviewing bands and covering concerts — and I couldn’t be happier.

Words can’t even begin to describe how thankful I was at that moment.

As Benatar’s husband Neil Geraldo provided climatic guitar riffs to accompany her soaring vocals, I couldn’t help but smile at the chorus of the song.

We’re running with the Shadows of the Night

So baby take my  hand, you’ll be all right

Surrender all you dreams to me tonight

They’ll come true in the end

So far, so many of my dreams have already come true. Some that I never even realized were possible a few years ago.

“Doing what you love takes a lot of faith,” Monica told me once.

I couldn’t agree more.

Where do you find your faith?