This is how old I am:

I made my first mixed tapes off of the radio. The tape player sat cued up, waiting for a good song to come on. The first notes would get cut off if I didn’t press play + record in time, or there might be stupid DJ chatter, which then becomes canon. When my siblings and I leveled up to owning a boom box with tape-to-tape recording capacity I was riding high on technology. Mixes for all of my friends! The next, even fancier,  generation of boom box allowed me to record from a CD straight onto a tape. That meant no fiddling around to find the exact beginning of a song. 

MP3 made mix making magnificently simple. As long as all of your CD’s were ripped onto your computer, you could burn the songs onto a disc. I didn’t think it could get any more effortless. Aaand welcome to the age of streaming.

Except we don’t call them mixes anymore, unless we’re trying to sound ironic or retro. Now we call them playlists. 

So, let's make a playlist designed to bring us joy. 

But not, like, in a way that making it feels overwhelming or seems like a chore. We’re doing it one song at a time. No, this isn’t a group project, this is a you project. I guarantee you, my joy songs and your joy songs aren’t the same. We might not have heard of each others’ songs. And that’s okay. This is about you. 

And you have no excuse because it is so simple. 

Here’s what we’re going to do: you’re going to create a playlist today and add one song. Every couple of weeks I’ll send out a prompt for a joy-inducing song for you to add to the playlist.  

LET’S GET STARTED

1. Think of a title for your playlist that makes you happy. I’ve included some examples below.

2. Go to your preferred music source.1 Navigate to open a new playlist.

3. Create new playlist with chosen name.

4. Add your first song (see prompt below).

5. Head over to the chat to share your mix name and your song.

If you don’t have access to streaming, you can make this an intellectual exercise. Write it down somewhere safe or make a note on your phone.

Today’s song prompt:

There is a song, at least one, that does it for you. It ‘s your happy song that does all of the things. It hits all of your dopamine receptors, sending you into a whirlwind of singing, laughing, and booty shaking (even if it’s only on the inside), the one song that will turn your day around. 

That song, put that song on your new playlist. 

Do two come to mind?  Yay, you. Put them both on. This is your playlist.

In fact, you can add songs whenever you feel like it. I’m here to cheer you along.

I’m always open to ideas, suggestions, shenanigans, tomfoolery, collaborations, cheese, snacks, and field trips.

You can find my art here and here. I offer custom workshops and design. I am the proud guardian/custodian of a 16 year old cheeseburger named Patty.

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