This update is inspired from one of my favorite bloggers Gala Darling. Her whole ideology is 'Radical Self-Love' and she does it with a lot of class. I want to have a whole entry dedicated to her vibe sometime in the future, as she has been quite an influence alongside many other motivating bloggers. One particular thing I like about her site is how she has all these "how to" guides that are free and beautifully written. I wanted to give it a try with something that I feel the most comfortable about, which is my passion for good music.
The whole concept of the Self-Love Playlist is to create a compilation of music that you know you can play which will really lift your mood at any time - music that is uniquely your own. My experience with music is that I tend to attach feelings and memories to songs, and for me everything in my music collection reminds me of my previous relationship (at the moment). Without deleting some of my favorite artists and not feeling forced to listen to songs that remind me of certain moments in my life, I thought that the best thing to do would be to create a playlist with completely new music that I can own, as something that just reminds me to be happy instead (and then go back to my old music when I feel ready to enjoy it again).
The idea isn't about forgetting your favorite tunes, but to only associate this new music to the time you need it the most - when you really need cheering up, when you feel like you need a personal anthem to define the era you are in with your life, when you're having a private dance-it-up in your bedroom, or when you just want to create something that feels like your vibe - and then enjoy!
So here is some ideas on how to do a new self-loving playlist:
I wanted to do this as cheaply as possible and managed to create a playlist with 100 songs that I have never heard before without paying out a single cent. I started off with places I knew I could get fresh beats for free. If you already have a favorite site you download from, try going for artists that are similar to what you already like. If you're unsure of what they might be, there is a nifty function to the website Last.fm which allows you to search for tracks that are similar to your favorite artists already. Or you can go in completely blind to find a new song - try out their free music downloads page and click on a random genre to the left of the page. You might even discover a whole new genre you never knew that you liked before! (or one you do like, but want to like in secret).
After marveling at all of the awesome free music at Last.fm, I tried my hand at googling for free Indie music. Personally I always find Indie music refreshing, interesting and hipster-chirpy. First website that was listed for me was Free Indie, which is like a daily online mix-tape of popular and up-and-coming indie music - All the music listed here is also legal for download. I spent quite a bit of time pre-listening to music and downloading random tracks from the site. I must have found about 25 songs for my self-love playlist from this particular site.
I also wanted to throw a bit of randomness into my new selection of music. One of the other sites I stumbled upon was Obscure Sound, this site has great reviews of very different music, from Indie to Jazz and a touch of Rock as well. They also offer their own compilations which you can download for free. After trying a couple of those, I had pretty much reached my limit of 100 new songs I had never heard before.
Now that your playlist is nearing its completion it may be feeling like it is missing one element - a unique name of its own. My list wasn't particularly original with a title like 'The Self-Love Playlist', but I found it appropriate for the journey it was going to take me on. I needed some of that idea - the Radical Self-Love concept. And my new playlist was born. This is the part where you get to be as creative as you want, or you can call your list the Self-Love Playlist too!
I hope this short entry has inspired you to create a new musical vibe in your life that will really lift you to where you want to be, you may even discover a whole new taste in music in the process. I always believe in trying new things and I have really enjoyed doing this little project. It has already been really beneficial for taking me to my own space which I feel is truly mine - which makes it all the more special. Happy Listening!
Here are a couple of music videos that grew on me from my playlist:
Blackbird Blackbird - Fly (ft. Steffaloo).
Lykke Li - Little Bit.
