Putting it in a Playlist: Music and Meaningful Creative Expression

We had fun joining Black Girls Love Coffee Shops (BGLC) at Grounded for a special edition of their Hobby Happy Hour meetup to celebrate Black Music Month! 

Everyone brought their favorite activity, which included crocheting, water coloring, writing, and more. Once it was time to take a break from our hobbies, we started the music portion of the meetup. 

We kicked things off by answering icebreaker questions to share our personal connection to music. Some questions included “What song did you have no business singing/rapping as a child?” (It’s any song from Lil Kim’s Hardcore album for us). One woman shared it was Ginuwine’s “So Anxious” song. Another question included “What’s a concert you’re looking forward to attending?” And the Beyoncé girlies were definitely in the building. 

 After the icebreaker questions, we got into our self-care activity based on card #8 Create the Soundtrack of Your Life. This activity is about writing out a playlist that reflects who you are and your story. You can use actual song titles or your own. This time, we added a new spin and had the ladies pick an Intention Word to guide them in creating their playlist and include in a song title. This led to meaningful dialogue.

We loved the thoughtfulness the ladies put into the activity. One woman’s album was based on living life like it’s golden, which happens to be our June mantra from Jill Scott’s song. She also included one of our favorite Maze songs, “Golden Time of Day.” Another woman picked "Expectations," and she shared how she chooses not to live by expectations and prefers to let life flow with the intentions she sets. One of her song titles was inspired by Doechie’s song "Bloom." Beza of BGLC word was Fun and her album reflected enjoying life. And another woman based her album on her Intention Word, “Manifest.” She included Beyoncé’s “Formation” on her playlist and shared how the lyrics stick with her.

I see it, I want it
I stunt yellow-bone it
I dream it, I work hard
I grind 'til I own it

We thank everyone who joined us to participate in the activity. A special thanks to BGLC for inviting us to be part of their meetup and Grounded for opening their lovely space for us to have creative fun!