Hi Music, Welcome Back :)

In a well-intentioned and likely wise attempt to cut down on unnecessary "soul-ish" uses of my energy and mental health, I made a significant reduction in my movie and music intake.  Early thirties singleness mixed with my propensity to be trapped in overthinking meant that some romantic comedies, sappy love stories, and music about relationships weren't the best choices for me.  While there were benefits to this and while I don't regret it, there were some drawbacks.  Especially in the music department.

First of all, there is very little modern music made that is not about a love relationship.  I mean, seriously.  This is not a new pet peeve of mine - it's been there since junior high.  I know that love and breakups bring emotions that inspire writing and music - but gee whiz people.  Can't we put something of the human experience to music other than love, break ups, the specifics of getting it on, and the ridiculousness and monotony of hip-hop self-promotion?  You might say "But who would listen to an album about trees, puppies, and the value of eating frozen yogurt with your friends?" I would!  Because those are things I actually relate to and that don't make me want to cry my face off.

Secondly, (don't judge me and don't send down the lightening) I'm not always crazy about modern Christian worship music.  It has become what I listen to the majority of the time, and sometimes it is ridiculously anointed and drops my face to the floor, but other times its just not my favorite.  Therefore, I found I was more often choosing to not listen to music.  Then, I found the world is a lonely place without music.  Especially when music has been so integral to my life and general method of processing the world.  Also, I don't want worship music to simply be more noise added to my life, I want it to be sincere.  Adding other forms of music back into my life has made it so.

Third, avoiding music and movies was good for me but it also fed my inclination towards finding emotions messy and inconvenient.  I think this goes back to that whole point of art drawing emotion and connecting to something deep inside, which is kinda part of why God made it and all.  We sorta need it for well-balanced lives.  Sometimes there's truth or a challenge for us in a song.  Like in this blog post by Annie Downs.

So, over the past months I have started joyously bringing some music back in and it's been a good thing.  Thankfully, there has also been a lot of good music made recently, which makes it easier.  Especially music that is just about life.  Or music that has a good beat and you can dance to it, but also listen to it in front of your mother and not apologize.  I even went to a Nicholas Sparks movie with two other women and was glad I went!  Who knew that was possible?

Here are the artists that have ushered music back in for me:

• The Lumineers (because they're just infectious)
• Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors - Good Light
• The Lone Bellow (though don't get me started on how sad it is that the best country album in ages had to come out of Brooklyn)
• Emeli Sande's song Next to Me
• Leagues - You Belong Here
• Darlene Zschech - Revealing Jesus (Live)
• Christy Nockels - Into the Glorious
• Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
• And a shout out to Lecrae and Propaganda for how they're changing hip-hop