Church this week asked the question: Where does it hurt? and as the person in charge of picking music for the service, I spent a fair amount of time digging into a variety of musical expressions of hurt. It might seem that would be depressing to some degree, but surprisingly, it was the opposite. There's something reaffirming about hearing pains we recognize expressed in the words of others; hearing in their descriptions our own experiences, and realizing that someone else has been where we are.
That may be why this blog often leans into songs expressing hurt. I have been the reader, the listener, finding my own hurts in the songs and artistry of others, and in turn finding comfort and healing in the odd camaraderie of those moments. If somewhere another reader finds solace hearing their own hurt expressed in connections made in this space, that's all I could hope.
Knowing that someone else understands the seemingly incomprehensible pains inside of us makes a difference. Someone else gets it, someone else has felt this, someone else has been through this too.
My youngest child struggles with internal hurt. They hurt deeply, and often. We've been talking recently about expressing their hurt in writing or drawings, as a way to cope, and how seeing other people's artistic expressions of hurt can help us process our own.
This past week as I listened to songs of hurt, I shared some with my child, to show them they're not alone in what they feel. They're not weird or unusual, they're human. Music can be a tool to pull us through our darkest moments, and I want them to have all the tools they can to face their hurt and come through the other side.
So for today, here are three songs which have spoken to me lately, which I hope either now or someday speak to my child, and which may speak to you:
Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.
OK (Anxiety Anthem) - Mabel
It's OK - Nightbirde