For most, Labor Day weekend means an extra day off of our normal work week. But something about a jam-packed weekend also means a required wind-down session.
These tunes are some of my late-night go-to’s after long drives, intense heat, sore feet, and much needed rejuvenation.
Even though you’re (begrudgingly) back at your routine, let the recent memories of your fun-filled weekend fuel you until the next federally-mandated holiday…or until the US realizes that our work week is far. too. long.
This week’s set of tunes is an ode to my best pal and my old tradition: Cafe Night.
Essentially, we would lay in our living room at night, turn off all the lights, open our curtains, and let the dim glow of street lamps settle in. Then, we’d play a soothing set of Norah Jones, Geographer, Little Dragon, and other hip n’ happenin’ artists.
This version is a little more indie/alternative/r&b than our original Cafe Night playlists, but like most great things, some changes come over time, but it’s still just as poppin’ as before!
Whether or not you have dim mood lighting, I hope y’all listen to this week’s set and feel an overwhelming sense of calm. Everyone deserves a Cafe Night once in a while. So start up these tunes and let the music do the work. You can work out your problems another day.
This is a different kind of TunesDay. I am taking this time as a thank you–a sharing of weight and burden. It is an expression and acknowledgement of the unbearable struggle that my Black and brown family constantly endure.
I am unbelievably grateful to every single person, across racial plains, who has taught me about solidarity, Black struggle, and what that means in creating a better world.
You have shared your triumphs and your pitfalls. You told us about your losses and fears. And sometimes, often times, we do not believe them.
It makes me incredibly emotional to know that there are people who do not value our shared humanity, who hijack every opportunity for learning and turn it into defensive ignorance.
Still, you speak your truths as if your lives depend on it, because it does.
It was never and is never your job to keep teaching and keep educating those around you. But still, you do. And I have benefited from that every step of the way. I promise to do more teaching. To let you take a break and stop your wounds from reopening.
Your resounding resilience comforts me. It tells me that despite oppression, hatred, and magnitudes of barriers, it is always possible to overcome. It tells me that eastern Asian womxn like myself can also be strong and outspoken. You tell me that my voice also matters. You confirm that racism and exoticism isn’t just in my head; that it impacts as all–some in worse ways than other. But we never play oppression olympics. We’re not at Rio. We never displace or remove or hide. You always let us express our shared frustrations and our differences. In doing so, you uplift us all, without question or compromise.
There are no words to explain how thankful I am for the womxn of color, especially in the Black struggle, who teach me, guide me, and love me in spite of my missteps and high learning curve.
We rise because of you.
So this is just a thank you, plain and simple. Because even though thank you’s don’t change the world, you still need to hear it. You need to know that your work and your presence matters. Thank you, a million times over. I have learned to love myself because of you and in turn, I will do everything in my power to ensure you too feel love, safety, and acceptance in this society that constantly tears us down.
With a love that knows no bounds,
Christina
I have a problem keeping track of days. I can’t believe I almost let Tuesday pass me by without posting my TunesDay playlist.
Sorry y’all. Your girl needs to put her TunesDay alerts back on her calendar.
My only excuse is that it is 93 degrees Fahrenheit outside and I am inside with a gnarly sore throat and stuffy nose…to the point where I think I have a headache because my nasal passages are preventing my body from gaining optimum oxygen levels. It’s a real challenge.
But despite that, I can still put together a bumpin’ playlist! Let’s just pretend I purposely held off on releasing this week’s playlist until 5:45PM so you could enjoy it on your sad, lengthy, frustrating-beyond-belief commute home. Hopefully this helps turn your car/subway/bus/uber/walk into your own dance party. You don’t need anyone’s permission except your own to let yo’ body do it’s thang.
Dance responsibly, friends.
It’s TunesDay, and I am getting back to my indie rock roots.
Today has been a pretty great day so far–free coffee at my side and my copywriting open up on another tab…
Thought I should take a short break to wish you all a productive and loving week!
Fantastic background image provided by Design Love Fest.
Y’all. Y’all. I saw Allen Stone in concert. After five long years of pining, my best friend and I saw him live this past weekend!
Anyway, this week I’m kind of in that drag-your-feet sluggishness. I’m telling you, being the boss of your own schedule is not that fun. How does one motivate themselves out of the bed so early in the morning? It’s a question I still don’t know the answer to. Yesterday, I legitimately had to give myself a pep talk in the mirror. It went something like this, “Christina. Get your shit together. Stop watching Shameless.”
It didn’t work very well.
Regardless, I’m trying to squeeze some more of that concert high from seeing Allen Stone. So in the spirit of his good vibes and hoping that I’ll become more motivated after listening to good music, this week’s playlist is full of soulful, hip r&b tunes.
What are some ways you keep motivated throughout the week/your entire life?
This week is a relaxed sort of craze. Being on your own schedule can be extremely liberating, but if you’re like me…you need some semblance of forced structure.
I’m trying this new thing to keep me focused. For me, being busy means running around everywhere for meetings, errands, and work sessions. But, over the almost year that I’ve been on my own schedule, I haven’t gotten nearly as much done as I wish I have.
So, I guess that means I need an overhaul in how I’ve been sorting out my time. As my poppa says, I need to “buckle down” and get my stuff in order.
Essentially, what I’m saying is, if I call, text, email, Facebook message, LinkedIn inbox, or Twitter message you…ignore me. Or, make sure it’s on a weekend or not during typical 8-5PM work hours. I beg of you…hold me accountable and don’t let me schedule meetings with you unless its for legitimate work! It’s beginning to be an actual problem.
I need to get my life together. But, maybe this week’s tunes will help me destress. If you have any tips for how you schedule your time or if you experience similar difficulties in your freelance life, drop me a line.
Sending you all wishes of productivity and clarity!
Oh, hey there! TunesDay is back.
It’s been a minute. But, I’m back and feeling…more focused.
It’s strange. With the horrible things happening all over the world, and especially in the US, I’ve gained an incredible amount of clarity, with a smattering of hopelessness that subsided after a couple of days.
I have had great conversations with thoughtful and insightful people from all walks of life, and I am incredibly appreciative of how people are willing to give their time to just talk, with no pretense or no foreseen benefits for themselves.
Today, I am thankful–for you and for every person who challenges themselves and the people around them to truly think. I am grateful that we are who we are because of our experiences and each person I have met (and/or reconnected with) over the past month in Costa Rica and back home in California, has had experiences that blow mine out of the water. And still, we come together and share and just…be. And that is such a beautiful thing to me.
I’m not going to blame my emotionality on my menstrual cycle, but it definitely might have something to do with it. Regardless, I love you and I like you and I am always, always wishing you peace and happiness. May you find whatever it is that you need to keep on going in this world.
Sorry for skipping last week. Disappointed in myself that I did, but I think I need a break from social media for a little while.
I can only say that I am tired, of waiting for change to happen, of being scared, of being outraged over the violence that consumes us.
I’m not as hopeful as I used to be, and I can only say that what I have written on my Facebook about the happenings of this past week is what I have to say for now.
I believe that I am lucky in a way to be leaving to Costa Rica to start the Birds of La Cangreja project because it will help to clear my head and figure out what role I can and should play in social justice movements and in fighting overall as an ally and as an activist. But, my travels also comes at a bad time because it feels like to leave is to abandon the communities that need strength here at home.
Though I am torn, maybe because I have the privilege of being able to step away, I should so that I can return and be ready to really tackle the problems that seem so daunting and hopeless.
I have no answers and no real moral to the story or uplifting note to end this on. I am just grateful in that I know there are so many dedicated and motivated, angry, beautiful, loving activists in the struggle–in the queer, Latinx, and Muslim communities who are holding it down. I could only hope for an ounce of the strength they have, and do my part in calling our elected officials for gun restrictions, in calling out homophobia, Islamaphobia, anti-immigrant sentiments, and the other forms of oppressive hatred that plague this country.
With this, I hope to continue on with TunesDays upon my return. I just need some space.
Wishing you all love, healing, and more strength.
Sometimes you just need to sleep 12 hours, eat food you know isn’t the best for you, pet a cat, and spend time with people who you love and who love you. Fight past your initial, cerebral worries that you aren’t doing what you should be doing, because maybe our needs and our cognitive “shoulds” don’t always match up.
Try as we might, not everything we do and not everyone we spend time with will be good for us or will help us “in the long run”. But, I think that that’s okay. We can’t always be moving forward–sometimes we have to take steps back in order to make our progression more meaningful.
And maybe the feeling of things ultimately working out and being okay can be attributed to my youth. I feel like I have time on my side, though I know that life is unexpected and days move by much more quickly than I’d like. At twenty-three, I think I’ve experienced quite a lot, and still nothing at all. Despite so many forces working against me as a womxn and as a person of color, I am privileged in so many ways, and that’s probably another reason for my air of confidence in time.
Regardless of what it is, I’m sure that even in our crazed panic to get things done, we can accomplish a lot more if we take the time to consider what we really want or need each day.
I hope that this week’s playlist can help you do that. Try to set aside ten or fifteen minutes for you to just think–not about the tasks you need to finish before 5PM rolls around, but about how your body and mind is feeling. You also deserve the time and care you put into the things and people around you. And if you want to start a new Netflix series instead of “being productive”, maybe you should do it, just this once.
ong going 