What’s the soundtrack of your life, right now?

Take a moment.

 

Is there a song playing in your head? Maybe you have music coursing through your headphones at the moment or perhaps Starbucks has a particularly decent playlist going. Forget all that.

 

If you could say to your friend, your lover, your boss: Listen to this. This is my life, right now. What song would you play?

 

I have spent the past ten minutes flipping through my music library. I scoured my old school Over the Rhine and Ella Fitzgerald collections. I headed to Mumford and Sons. Is it Awake My Soul? Not quite. I have been playing Camila Cabello’s Havana on repeat for weeks as I’ve worked to finish a short documentary series on Cuba.

 

But the soundtrack of my life, right now?

 

If I asked you, “How are you really?” what song would you play me?

 

I’d play you Hymn for the Weekend by Coldplay. Definitely. I just needed time to discover—and remember—how I am really.

 

I listened to this song on repeat during a flight to Havana this summer. It was suppose to be the last shoot of that documentary series. I hadn’t slept for days in preparation for it. I was scared. I was sad. Those two emotions aren’t my norm nor my intimates.

 

But as I listened to that song, I entrusted myself to the hope in it…to the God of Hope in it. The shoot was a bit of a disaster up until the end. Nonetheless, the series has had a miraculous rescue. It’s better than I imagined.

 

Now the words of the song are a part of me. Yes, that’s me. Right now.

 

Oh, angel sent from up above
You know you make my world light up
When I was down, when I was hurt
You came to lift me up
Life is a drink and love’s a drug
Oh now I think I must be miles up
When I was a river dried up
You came to rain a flood

 

I feel buoyed by hope. I’m so grateful for the God of Hope’s rescue. And during such a tough recent season, I realized several friends have helped me live into this soundtrack…they’ve helped make it mine. What a gift!

 

And it’s got me thinking. We actually can help others own a better soundtrack for their lives. Right now.

 

Today, I can encourage a friend…perhaps even a stranger…to have a better soundtrack…one full of comfort or courage, grace or sultry love. Amazing.

 

So, cheers to that!

 

I’d love to hear what your soundtrack is, right now. And please do share if someone has helped make yours better…or you’ve done that for another recently.

 

I must admit, I’ve recently fallen head over heals for Hafiz. Here’s a little of his soundtrack.

 

I am

A hole in a flute

That the Christ’s breath moves through—

Listen to this Music.

–Hafiz, The Gift translated by Daniel Ladinsky

 

Good

Poetry

Makes the universe admit a

Secret:

“I am

Really just a tambourine,

Grab hold,

Play me

Against your warm

Thigh.” –Hafiz, The Gift translated by Daniel Ladinsky

 

May music infuse your very being today. And may it be a dance party that welcomes others in.