When it seems the universe has yanked life from your control and turned it against you, music reminds you to keep going and push back
There are so many people we know who are having difficulty finding ways to process the degree to which their reality changed this week. Political decisions made this week generate fear for many, making others severely anxious, and outright depressing for some. Trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces and continue on is a real challenge for many.
We don’t have any answers. We looked for some and came up empty. We cannot unify behind hatred. We cannot continue on with our lives as though nothing happened. We cannot forgive those whose sole reason for voting was to dominate and suppress the civil rights of others. We just can’t.
This is when we look to music to get us through the day. The powers of music to alter our emotions, to subdue the anxiety and depression and worry and pull them all down to manageable levels is extremely well documented. We listen, we feel better, we stay alive.
Music won’t make the situation at hand go away. Neither does protesting in the streets, by the way. We’re all better off, for now, staying in, hugging and comforting each other, and carefully watching what happens next. If action is required, we will take it. Until then, we have our music to get us through. We’ve chosen 25 songs we think can help keep us moving forward. At the end, I’ll give you a link to the whole playlist. Be of hope and good cheer.
Songs 1-5
Imagine – 2010 – Remaster
Imagine – 2010 – Remaster, a song by John Lennon on Spotify
Hallelujah
Hallelujah, a song by Pentatonix on Spotify
I Am Woman
I Am Woman, a song by Helen Reddy on Spotify
We Are Family
We Are Family, a song by Sister Sledge on Spotify
I Will Survive
I Will Survive, a song by Gloria Gaynor on Spotify
Songs 6-10
Thank You For Being A Friend
Thank You For Being A Friend, a song by Andrew Gold on Spotify
What A Wonderful World – Single Version
What A Wonderful World – Single Version, a song by Louis Armstrong on Spotify
Stand By Me
Stand By Me, a song by Ben E. King on Spotify
Let It Be – Remastered
Let It Be – Remastered, a song by The Beatles on Spotify
Come Away With Me
Come Away With Me, a song by Norah Jones on Spotify
Song 11-15
Unwritten
Unwritten, a song by Natasha Bedingfield on Spotify
Right Now
Right Now, a song by Van Halen on Spotify
I Won’t Back Down
I Won’t Back Down, a song by Tom Petty on Spotify
Invincible
Invincible, a song by Pat Benatar on Spotify
Fighter
Fighter, a song by Christina Aguilera on Spotify
Songs 16-25
Don’t Stop Believin’
Don’t Stop Believin’, a song by Journey on Spotify
Breathe
Breathe, a song by U2 on Spotify
Redemption Song
Redemption Song, a song by Bob Marley & The Wailers on Spotify
We’re Not Gonna Take It (Live)
We’re Not Gonna Take It (Live), a song by Twisted Sister on Spotify
New Day
New Day, a song by Alicia Keys on Spotify
Don’t Stop – Remastered
Don’t Stop – Remastered, a song by Fleetwood Mac on Spotify
Ooh Child
Ooh Child, a song by Valerie Carter on Spotify
Hold On, Hold On
Hold On, Hold On, a song by Neko Case on Spotify
Everyday People – Single Version
Everyday People – Single Version, a song by Sly & The Family Stone on Spotify
Put a Little Love in Your Heart
Put a Little Love in Your Heart, a song by The Isley Brothers on Spotify
That’s what we’ve got for you. Total play time is right around an hour and 28 minutes. If you want the full playlist, I’m adding that link below. We hope this helps.
Music For Troubled Times, a playlist by Charles I. Letbetter on Spotify
We didn't ask for this reality. These songs help us deal with it.
Credit for pictures in this article:
Models: Rebekkah Perrigrin & Emily Comstock
Makeup: Danelle French
Hair: Kelly Walsh
Styling: Lila Palomares & Allyson Brooks
Sleeping Through Sunday
I have never taken any exercise, except sleeping and resting, and I never intend to take any.—Mark Twain
None of us are sleeping as much as we should. Going back to bed may be the healthiest thing you do
I would dearly love to be sleeping right now, truly I would. Unfortunately, my body has conditioned itself to wake up at this ungodly hour, while everyone else is still sleeping, so that I can actually get some work done before the world starts getting noisy. As a result, to sleep even past 6:00 AM is a luxury rarely afforded these days. I’m not the only one, though. For the past four years, doctors have been warning that we’re not sleeping enough. Cases of insomnia are on the rise. Sure, there are sleeping pills that help some, but those also bring the chance of abuse and, in some cases, addiction. The problem isn’t just limited to the US, either. The whole world is having trouble sleeping.
What causes us to have so much trouble falling asleep and staying that way? There are a number of issues, of course, but the three most common to our contemporary first-world lifestyles are:
That third one, of course, is new, and largely limited to people in industrialized nations. In places where 24-hour wifi isn’t quite so prevalent, concerns over personal/family safety take the third spot, which is certainly understandable. In the US, especially, we have a problem putting down our phones even to sleep. Whether it’s playing some silly game, browsing the latest cat memes, or actually reading something worthwhile, we rarely turn off our phones. Making matters worse, recent studies indicate that the light emitted by our phones is bright enough that our brains mistake it for daylight so that the little trigger telling us to go to sleep gets turned off.
Such insomnia is not totally new. Throughout the twentieth century, there were plenty of things keeping our parents and grandparents awake at night. In the early part of that century, we feared becoming involved in a European war, so much so that we were almost too late to help, Then came the Great Depression and I’m not sure anyone slept much. Homelessness, poverty, unemployment, and hunger all have a way of keeping a person up at night. Then, from 1936 on, the threat of a second European war became a worry and those who remembered the first one were especially sleepless. The 1940s were a decade of war and no one sleeps well through that. Troops were back home for most of the 1950s, but the Cold War set in hard and the Red Scare had Americans wondering whether their neighbors and co-workers might be communists. Air raid drills were common in schools, making sure children didn’t sleep well, either.
By the 1960s, parents worried about war in Southeast Asia, violence around the growing Civil Rights movement, and an exploding drug problem. 1972 crushed our faith in government. 1974 introduced us to the worries of inflation. By 1979, we looked at the Middle East as our newest enemy and worried how to keep them in check. Fear of nuclear annihilation reached its peak in the 80s and we responded to any and every threat by attempting to outlaw it, sending more people to jail than the prison system could handle, most for non-violent offenses. By the 90s economics were again a major fear and this thing called the Internet threatened to change the very fabric of our society.
Society is too complex for us to not find things to worry about. My current personal list of immediate concerns is about 20 items deep, and that’s with me trying to be positive. I refuse to be pollyannish and say everything’s going to be alright. The fact that we’re not sleeping like we should is itself a warning that no, everything may yet go to hell in a handbasket.
So, why are we not sleeping through Sundays, every Sunday? I challenged my father on the topic more than once. If one is going to actually believe Old Testament mythology regarding creation, then one has to deal with the notion that, after six days of work, God rested. Throughout the Old Testament, he seemed rather adamant about that whole resting thing and to this day devout Jews struggle with the juxtaposition of secular demands to do things and their religious commandment to not do things on the Sabbath. Spending all day at church seems to me, still, as just as much a violation of that command as if one were working. One does not rest at church, at least, you’re not supposed to actually sleep through the whole thing. My father was never amused, nor moved, by that argument, though.
To me, it just makes good sense. Our bodies, and our minds, need a break. We fill our lives with so very much the other six days, we need a respite to allow our bodies to catch up, re-energize, and recuperate. We need scheduled time to laugh, to read fiction, to have pleasant conversations, to enjoy non-stressed company of friends who don’t care if the house is clean, to ponder, to appreciate. More than anything, we need to be sleeping.
Go back to bed. Chores can wait. Ducktape kids to the wall if necessary. You should be sleeping. Get to it.
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