Healin’ & Dealin’: Musical Medicine For Feeling Your Feels ✨
Ahhh, music. Beloved music. The soundtrack of the times, and our lives. It’s been a long standing theory (in my mind, anyway) that the music we listen to, especially if lyrical, has a mantra-like effect on our moods, our thought processes (both conscious & subconscious). Some people claim they don’t listen to the words, which is fine and dandy, maybe they truly do have the mechanical workings in their brain to be able to block out their frequency. And yes, there are pure and blended frequencies that don’t necessarily involve words, that you can listen/tap into for sound healing of various types. I’m a big fan of this frequency for quantum focus, which I’ll often listen to to get me through my email & admin worksessions.
However, I do understand that words have power. How we wield them matters. How we understand and absorb them matters. They’re used to communicate ideas across time and space. With this in mind, especially as I’ve gotten older, I have become more selective with the songs I listen to, depending on the mood I’m in (or, the mood trying to embody). This might seem like a no-brainer to those of you who have been acting as your own resident bedroom dj (or perhaps are dj’s for other people), but the idea I want to hold up here, is that music is truly a form of medicine, and a tool we can use when we process and experience and understand our emotions.
This is not to say I never listen to Bay slaps anymore, but there is a time and a place. If I’m going through it, I allow myself some time to slap more high energy rage-kine music initially, if that’s what I’m feeling (Rico Nasty – OHFR?, anyone?), then I know after I’ve really felt and let that all out, I’ll feel when it’s time to move on to music with more thoughtful analysis of the situation. Not that the songs have to exactly fit or speak to my situation, but more so to validate, lyrically, that I’m not alone in some of the emotions I’m going through, and be encouraged by others who’ve found (and are sharing through song) ways to heal through their emotions and life circumstances. Now, not all songs do this, and that’s okay. We all got a piece to add to this puzzle we call life, and feeling our feels. Also, sometimes what you really need is just a good cry, and these vocally-gifted artists just know how to be hittin the notesss! At this point, depending on my feels, I’m listening to something belt-y, like Yebba’s My Mind or Evergreen (pretty much anything Yebba sangs, really. Yes, sangs. Yebba don’t sing. She SANGS.) or Alabama Shake’s Gimme All Your Love, or something more lyrical, along the lines of Logic’s Anxiety.
After musically and literally going through my shadows, and often doing some reflecting and journaling, I’m ready to start to see the flip side of things, and will listen to songs that are more hopeful, maybe more upbeat, more about loving myself and recognizing my accomplishments and making it this far, even if there were bumps along the road. My family Queens D. Light’s Boss Goddess is one of my favorites for situations like this. After all that, I might be ready to feel so good that I find myself giving thanks for life, and listening to Maze’s Happy Feelings.
Whatever you’re feeling, if you’re a fan of music, I encourage you to make yourself a playlist to get you through your feels. Balance is key, touching on a range of emotions as multifaceted as you are. It’s okay to feel your sad feels, as long as you also allow space and opportunity to also feel your happy. To get you started on this musical therapy journey, we’ve curated this playlist you can tune into, when you’re going through it. Included you’ll find most of the songs referenced above, and more. Heads up, it does start with a song from a cartoon called Steven Universe, which is on our list of recommended shows & movies portraying mental health, which is both a cute lowkey jam, and a helpful way to process working through anxiety:
However, I do understand that words have power. How we wield them matters. How we understand and absorb them matters. They’re used to communicate ideas across time and space. With this in mind, especially as I’ve gotten older, I have become more selective with the songs I listen to, depending on the mood I’m in (or, the mood trying to embody). This might seem like a no-brainer to those of you who have been acting as your own resident bedroom dj (or perhaps are dj’s for other people), but the idea I want to hold up here, is that music is truly a form of medicine, and a tool we can use when we process and experience and understand our emotions.
This is not to say I never listen to Bay slaps anymore, but there is a time and a place. If I’m going through it, I allow myself some time to slap more high energy rage-kine music initially, if that’s what I’m feeling (Rico Nasty – OHFR?, anyone?), then I know after I’ve really felt and let that all out, I’ll feel when it’s time to move on to music with more thoughtful analysis of the situation. Not that the songs have to exactly fit or speak to my situation, but more so to validate, lyrically, that I’m not alone in some of the emotions I’m going through, and be encouraged by others who’ve found (and are sharing through song) ways to heal through their emotions and life circumstances. Now, not all songs do this, and that’s okay. We all got a piece to add to this puzzle we call life, and feeling our feels. Also, sometimes what you really need is just a good cry, and these vocally-gifted artists just know how to be hittin the notesss! At this point, depending on my feels, I’m listening to something belt-y, like Yebba’s My Mind or Evergreen (pretty much anything Yebba sangs, really. Yes, sangs. Yebba don’t sing. She SANGS.) or Alabama Shake’s Gimme All Your Love, or something more lyrical, along the lines of Logic’s Anxiety.
After musically and literally going through my shadows, and often doing some reflecting and journaling, I’m ready to start to see the flip side of things, and will listen to songs that are more hopeful, maybe more upbeat, more about loving myself and recognizing my accomplishments and making it this far, even if there were bumps along the road. My family Queens D. Light’s Boss Goddess is one of my favorites for situations like this. After all that, I might be ready to feel so good that I find myself giving thanks for life, and listening to Maze’s Happy Feelings.
Whatever you’re feeling, if you’re a fan of music, I encourage you to make yourself a playlist to get you through your feels. Balance is key, touching on a range of emotions as multifaceted as you are. It’s okay to feel your sad feels, as long as you also allow space and opportunity to also feel your happy. To get you started on this musical therapy journey, we’ve curated this playlist you can tune into, when you’re going through it. Included you’ll find most of the songs referenced above, and more. Heads up, it does start with a song from a cartoon called Steven Universe, which is on our list of recommended shows & movies portraying mental health, which is both a cute lowkey jam, and a helpful way to process working through anxiety:
The abstract playlist for healing through your emotions 🎧
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Lala Openi
(:
The Abstract
Heads up, this does start with a song from a cartoon called Steven Universe, which is on our list of recommended shows & movies portraying mental health, which is both a cute lowkey jam, and a helpful way to process working through anxiety / imposter syndrom