More songs in my emotional playground
The book club discussion guide for Adoption Unfiltered includes playlists for accessing emotions from co-authors Sara, Kelsey, and me. In this series of posts, I’m taking you on a tour of the songs on my playlist, about three at a time. Here is the third batch of songs that help me feel the deep feels.
Oh, What a World by Kacey Musgraves
This is a gorgeous song with a trippy video that includes a banjo-playing frog and lots of psychedelia.
I glommed onto this song in the aftermath of the death of my nephew, Dominic. Oh What A World evokes in me a zooming out, an expansion to the edges of the cosmos. So much so that a few times I’ve been able to feel connected to Dominic (more songs in this series about Dominic.). That’s bliss in whatever form I can get.
Are we here just once or a billion times?
Kacey Musgraves taps in to my own sense of mystery…and despair. What is life? What is the point? Does anything really matter when it all can seemingly disappear in an instant?
These are real things
Oh, what a world, all kinds of magic
Tell me it’s not too good to be true
Oh, what a world, and then there is you
What is real, anyway?
The video shows the abundant beauty in the diversity of our planet, galaxy, universe. As I listen, I experience this beauty alongside my own devastation.
Such moments of BothAnd helps me integrate and heal from that which has been shattered.
Don't Hold Your Breath by Wookiefoot
The lyrics begin with the most basic of instructions.
Breathe in, Breathe out.
A newborn knows to do this this without being told how. But somewhere along the way, grown ups sometimes develop problems with this most basic of functions
The steady and repetitive rhythm of Wookiefoot’s Don’t Hold Your Breath mirrors my heartrate when I’m in a calm state. So this is the perfect song to listen to when I’m not in a calm state. Hearing this song supports my parasympathetic nervous system to engage and tone down the agitation in my body.
The lyrics are a reminder to do two simple things: breathe in and breathe out. I’m better at the former than I am at the latter—metaphorically, I am more prone to holding on too tight and for too long. I suspect others are better at releasing and more challenged by receiving. In either case, this song can bring equanimity and balance.
Don’t hold your breath
…for when you do you’re out of flow. Flow is what Seasons of Love means to me, as well, the never-ending turning of the wheel. What goes up eventually comes down, and vice versa.
Worry will not take away your trouble tomorrow
Only take away your peace today
Worry will not take away your pain, your sorrow
Bring it back to the breath and it can all melt away
At least during those moments of presence and mindful breathing, allowing things to ebb and flow.
Give it in. Give it out.
Let it in. Let it out.
Bring it in. Bring it out.
What is life but a series of breaths—and a bunch of stuff going on while we cycle through them?
Coming Up Close by 'Til Tuesday
This song takes me back to the days of infertility. We had so much hope—followed by a failure to launch.
I felt my heart beat back a weekend’s worth of sadness
I think failure-to-launch is what’s at the heart of ‘Til Tuesday’s Coming Up Close, though perhaps with a different type of relationship that the one I was mourning.
I find the music, both instruments and voices, sublime. The lyrics evoke longing and hope, wondering about home — making one and returning to one.
Everything sounds likeWelcome home, come homeCome on home
More Songs that Soothe
For links to the playlists of songs that soothe Sara and Kelsey, download our FREE Adoption Unfiltered book club guide.
Watch this space for the backstories behind a new batch of songs that are meaningful to me. Links will be filled in as each post is published.
- Part 1: Regina Spektor, Rent, Daniel Lanois & Bono
- Part 2: Pearl Jam, Avett Brothers, Sara Hester Ross
- Part 3: Kacey Musgraves, Wookiefoot, ‘Til Tuesday
- Part 4: Supertramp, Miley Cyrus, Ayla Nereo
- Part 5: One Direction, Carly Simon, Indigo Girls
- Part 6: Ingrid Michaelson, Jesus Christ Superstar, Billy Joel
- Part 7: Brandi Carlile, Wilco, Aimee Mann, John Lennon
