Music can invoke a mixture of emotions, for instance when I hear Silent Night something deep inside me stirs and next thing I know I’m fighting back tears. It isn’t just one version of the song that triggers the water works….it’s ALL versions, hell I bet if P Diddy (that’s still his name right or did he change it again?) threw out a few beats of the song I’d be a bawling mess. Although, I did pretty good the other day when I was at the bookstore and wouldn’t you know Silent Night started playing over the sound system. I tried to busy myself by getting distracted by the titles in front of me but that didn’t work. I felt the tears start well up in my eyes, the lip quivering….I even demanded to get a hold of myself but nothing seemed to work until I started to chant a Kundalini mantra, Sa Ta Na Ma over and over again, not too loud to attract the other bookaholics but loud enough to distract me and you know what, that shit worked……but I did leave with an arm full of books, just in case.
As a writer there are moments when I get stuck, brain fog consumes me and the only thing that pulls me out of my nothingness coma is music. On occasion when I need to take myself to that certain place deep in my soul to recapture a certain emotion I stroll on over to my Spotify playlists and I quickly fall back into the zone fully experiencing a place in time when these songs resonated deep inside my core.
Many authors have playlists for their books, I have playlists for emotions and one work in progress.
A Different Lifetime (to feel that loving feeling) : these songs all have meaning and bring me back to a moment in time that will forever be branded in my heart and when I need to write about THAT kind of love or connection I sit back, close my eyes and let the music weave its way into my soul and then I let my fingers take over the keyboard and the story continues, characters and scenes begin to form once again.
Now if I need to go dark, write a steamy hot scene or even a fight scene I usually pull from the playlist that I created for my novel….. which is still a work in progress.
Vindication
and then I have those songs that can turn any foul mood around and have me dancing in my living room not giving a care if my neighbors are bothered by the sound or if people can see me through my window getting jiggy with it. I really feel bad for my furkids especially when Uptown Funk, Family Affair, Ride Wit Me and SMOOTH come on, they eventually become my dance partners.
Girls night in / Forever Smiles
What songs resonate with you? Do you have a spotify playlist??
You can find my playlists on Spotify under Jolene Cecil
