Expressing Our Feelings Through Song
Hooray, it’s May! 🌸🌿🐞
The air is finally warm again! In my brain, this is the official start of spring in New England. You can feel the magic in these moments as everything finally starts to come back to life. In fact, as I write this, I’m looking out the window at the trees across the street from me. For months, they’ve been nothing but sticks, conserving their energy for warmer days when bright yellow buds would grace us again. It’s with enthusiasm that I report, the buds are here! The trees are yellow! There is life out there again!
Last month, I encouraged us to revisit our new years intentions and realign, redefine, and refocus our energy. I hope that you’re continuing this practice and finding joy in small moments! This month, I wanted to highlight the importance of community and how feeling seen and heard can do so much more for us than we realize. One of the coolest features that GSMT has to offer is that we bring our services to you! That being said, that means we don’t gather at a communal office or clinic space each day and we have to get creative when it comes to interacting with each other. Recently, our GSMT team engaged in a mindfulness activity together. We were asked to identify songs that made us feel happy, calm, motivated, and seen or understood. These songs went onto a playlist and were featured on our social media as part of World Music Therapy Week! After creating the playlists, we decided it might be fun to make this an ongoing project to help foster community and share our feelings through music. Now, I want to encourage everyone to think about your favorite songs. What song has been on repeat lately? What song makes you smile as soon as you hear the first note? What song soothes your racing mind as you wind down at the end of the day? Maybe multiple songs come to mind or maybe your mind is totally blank as you read those questions. Take a peek at your playlists if you need.
Name a song that makes you feel happy. For me, it’s “It Happens” by Sugarland. As soon as I hear the sounds of the guitar at the beginning, I automatically know the song and it brings a smile to my face. Not just a smile, but an ear to ear, beaming grin! If you’re not familiar with the song, the main chorus repeats: “Ain’t no rhyme or reason; no complicated meaning; ain’t no need to overthink it; let go laughing. Life don’t go quite like you planned it; we try so hard to understand it; the irrefutable, indisputable fact is, it happens.” And I think there is something to be said about the peace of mind that sentiment brings. Navigating life by simply refusing to place so much weight on every decision we make, shrugging our shoulders, and saying “it happens!” while holding the knowledge that we can handle the challenges life throws at us feels similarly to me as taking a deep breath. I’m talking about when we intentionally let the air out of our lungs before we begin to breathe in; focusing on the air flow, how our abdomen feels as it expands, and holding that focus all the way through the exhale. Remaining present through the moment and acknowledging the relief that washes over us after. That’s how the chorus of “It Happens” makes me feel. I invite you to try the same exercise- name a song that makes you feel happy. Go with your gut. What’s the first song that comes to mind as you’re reading this? Pull up the song, Google the lyrics, and read or sing along as you listen. What stands out to you? Sit with that feeling for a moment and write your thoughts down or speak them into a voice memo app on your phone. You’ve just completed a mini lyric analysis with me! Nice job! I invite you to explore more of your favorite songs in this way. I’ve included a link to the playlists we’ve started if anyone wants to take a listen. And we’d love to hear from you! If you’re interested in sharing the songs that make you feel happy, calm, motivated, and seen or understood so we can add them to our playlists, please reach out to kelly@granitestatemusictherapy.com!
Please note: Some songs on these playlists may contain explicit lyrics or themes, listener discretion is advised!
Author: Kelly Weaver, MT-BC