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| Maybelline hogging my heated plush throw. Silly girl. |
Are you ready for some inspiration?
Welcome to the first Music Monday! As I wrote in my last post found here, I have dedicated Monday to music. For today's Music Monday, I have 3 incredible songs that I hope will inspire you to keep working and fighting in your recovery. I've scoured songs from multi-genres and discovered music that I trust will speak to the feelings and thoughts of men and women dealing with the scourge of mental illness. Some of the songs you may like, some you may dislike. I've chosen up-tempo songs as well as songs with slower beats. I've tried to be as inclusive as possible.
I also encourage you to tweet at @missinginsight, email at missinginsight@gmail.com, or leave a comment on what songs inspire you so that I may include them in my posts.
As you read and listen, please consider if the music speaks to you and how it relates to you.
1) The first song is "Fly" by Hilary Duff. I remember coming home from Therapist one day, hearing this song on the radio, and I was so inspired to really start trying to get better. The lyrics I like best are:
All of your worries, leave them somewhere else/Find a dream you can follow/Reach for something when there's nothing left/And the world's feeling hollow/Open the part of you that wants to hide away/You can shine/ Forget about the reasons why you can't inside/ And start to try/Cause it's your time/Time to fly
This song is such an inspiration to me because of its message of trying when you are struggling, forgetting the reasons that you made you feel hopeless, and always trying, always keep moving forward no matter how hard the struggle is to fight off the demons in our head.
2) The second song that I think represents recovery well is "Alive" by Sia. It's speaks to the writer feeling he or she had been hurt for way too long, and is exacting revenge on those who hurt her by getting better.
The lyrics that really speak to me:
I grew up overnight/I played alone/I survived/I had a one way ticket to where all the demons go/and you're taught to cry in your pillow/but I survived/I'm still breathing/I'm still breathing/I'm alive.
This song is usually on repeat because I feel Sia is singing to me. I've always felt hopeless, all the way back to childhood, and this song is like a slap in the face to my abusers because they tried to break me, but guess what, I'm still here, trying to fight, trying to stay alive.
3) This song is a recent find. It's called "The Silver Lining" by First Aid Kit. I like it because, not only is it uptempo, which I like in inspirational songs, but the lyrics are like poetry set to music.
There are so many relatable lyrics in this song that it is hard to find just a few that I love, but these are ones definitely worth listing.
I don't know if I'm afraid of dying, but I'm scared of living too fast, too slow/Regret, remorse, oh, no, I've got to go/And you've just gotta keep on keeping on/and you've just gotta keep on going straight down the road/I won't take the easy road/the easy road, the easy road/I hear a voice calling out to me/The shackles I've made in an attempt to be free/Be it for reason, be it for love/I won't take the easy road/show me my silver lining
Wow! I love these words along with the beat and their voices. I love how the songwriter is saying she won't have regret or remorse because these things are holding her back and she has to keep on moving ahead or she won't make progress. Also, personally, I've always tried to take the easy road in recovery by avoiding things that I don't want to confront. I often still do. But this song gives me hope that I need to keep on keeping on even if the road to recovery is difficult. And it always is.
She also mentions how in an attempt to be free, she's made her own shackles. I'm not sure what the songwriter is saying, but my best interpretation is that she might have made these shackles to make sure things weren't easy and to insure she isn't taking the easy road. This way she can keep on keeping on.
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Even though I feel hopeless often, these songs are reminders of how we must keep trying, we must find reasons to fight, we must stay in the fight and not waste our energy on those who hurt us, but show them we are better than them. We can rise above.
- What are your thoughts on the music?
- Do any of the songs speak to you?
- What songs help you in recover?
Stay tuned for Wednesday Wisdom!
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