How to Use Magdala’s "Healing" Playlist
You may have noticed there’s two tiny icons in the top left-hand corner of Magdala’s website. One is our YouTube channel, where we post our podcast (whiiiiiiich you should follow! The first episode of season 2 is out this week, just saying), and the other is a link to our Spotify account.
While we hope to build more playlists, right now we have one called “healing.” We created it for a simple reason: music is beautiful, and beauty heals. The songs that are chosen for the playlist speak either explicitly or implicitly of healing, innocence, and God’s love.
Beauty is one of the transcendentals, which are described as “the timeless and universal attributes of being.” Put simply, the transcendentals (truth, beauty, and goodness) are the things that continually re-root us in what it means to just exist. When we encounter one of the transcendentals, we are reminded why we exist, and are given permission to just rest in that.
In particular, beauty has a role to play in healing from addiction. Pornography and other sexual compulsions are full of abuses of beauty, and so we become accustomed to no longer encountering it--especially in others and ourselves. Our playlist is a simple way to begin giving yourself the space to encounter something beautiful again, and to believe that you are beautiful again. Here are a few ideas to use the playlist for (pro-tip: all of these things are a good thing to do instead of give in to a moment of urge or temptation!):
Journal. Play the playlist in the background while you journal or pray, specifically about your recovery and healing.
Exercise. Use the playlist as motivation for a workout, or as a background for a contemplative hike in nature.
Go on a long drive. Hop in your car with your favorite cup of coffee, put on the playlist, and drive without a destination. Just drive, and listen.
Paint or do some other creative activity. Put the playlist on in the background while you watercolor, draw, arrange flowers, or even organize your room.
Learn to play or sing the songs. For you musicians out there (even you shower singers)--learn to play some of the songs on your instrument of choice, and sing along.
And just for fun, here’s some of our favorite songs on the playlist (so far, it’ll keep growing!)
--Innocence, by NEEDTOBREATHE
--Dear Wormwood, by the Oh Hellos
--Let It All Out (10:05), by COIN
--Fool’s Gold, by Sandra McCracken
--Tears, by Future of Forestry