LLW Lite: Love Songs as Self-Care
Allowing the lyrical flow to make love to your soul, especially during such a time as this...
The Setup.
I’ve been reading this book titled Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone by Minna Salami. The book delves into countering the one-dimensional, linear acquisition of knowledge embedded in the ideological foundation of Europatriarchy, a term she coined. There is a revolutionary tone about the text, even though the author’s ambitious writing gets ahead of her at times.
Salami is presenting a more balanced approach by not necessarily uprooting Europatriarchy but to instill sensuous knowledge alongside it as a way to bring equity to all peoples of the world who are not white and male. She uses African spiritual systems and black feminist theory as an undercurrent for her essays which is quite unique. One of her most eloquent statements centers the creative expressions of Black women as intelligence of another sort; an intelligence that breaks free from rigidity and power structures.
“For a group historically denied access to education, black women have survived by relying on the in-depth, intuitive, and poetic knowledge of creative expression not only for entertainment but also for critical insight.”
The Meditation.
As I have been reading this book, it confirms my thoughts regarding the necessity of decompressing, specifically during this time. It seems the entire social media spectrum is fraught with fear, caught in a ceaseless news spiral, and social commentary that hinges on hot takes and borderline hysteria. While I am fully aware of this moment, I am also fully aware of the need to seek solace just as much as solutions. Salami mentioned Patricia Hill-Collins’ Ethics of Caring as well as using African-based systems of philosophy as methods to produce a more receptive and compassionate world.
With my personal life entering a new phase, the uncertainty of my aspirations coupled with the current sociopolitical landscape could leave me straddled with doubt and emotional paralysis. But I won’t let it. I know how to escape through love songs, creativity, and imagination. Music has always been a savior for me, informing my writing and aiding in navigating my lived experiences.
Love Songs as Self Care
[Click Play]
“We been traveling at light speed, trying to slow this life down to a nice speed.”
All I Do - Robert Glasper feat. SiR, Bridgett Kelly and SongBird
In a funk one night, I found myself soaring to the melodies of love songs from a place of timelessness. It was a sweet medicine that calmed my soul and eased my anxiety. I had spent too much time being tapped into the news cycle which was spinning one nerve-splitting headline after another. I was trying to solve the world’s problems using the ‘master’s tools’ as Audre Lorde called it. It was a dastardly undertaking because I am one Black woman, brilliant mind and all, solutions-oriented indeed, but just me. And then, my personal life is peaceful, but a little too peaceful. It can stand a bit of sensual upheaval and pleasure-filled moments.
I found myself needing a release and a mental shift. Love songs rescued and soothed me. My nervous system was relieved. My imagination was freed from the tedium of problem-solving and instead I gave in to my hopeful (not hopeless) romantic self. I imagined a lover - Black, beautiful with strong hands and looking like one of my Crushes. I know what he sounds like because we converse so, in this imaginative rendering, I heard him say the words I dream of hearing. Before I knew it, I was comforted.
What do you think? Love Songs as Self-Care.
Nice post. I think it’s important to know what brings in energy and what drawn energy out of our systems. I don’t listen to music much anymore except for what my kids turn on and what someone might recommend. I find that I experience music as a Time Machine. Whenever I listen to something, it always takes me back to where I was and who I was when I first heard the music. So as an alternative to listening to most music, I just play with making up my own songs. I have a bunch of beats on my phone that I just freestyle to. When I do that, it calls up what’s present for me or where I’m headed rather than where I’ve been. That being said, I do appreciate a little nostalgia now and again and will sometimes pick a song to listen to on repeat and use the nostalgia energy like a vitamin or restorative medicine of sorts.