- I Was Here- Beyonce
Making your mark in this world and leaving behind a legacy. That is ultimately the message that presents itself in this Beyoncé song from her highly successful 2011 album, 4. Although there are countless of empowering Beyoncé songs, which actually made it really difficult for me to not rename this article to ‘top 5 empowering Beyoncé songs’, I Was Here not only showcases the stupendous vocal range of the incredible artist, but the song with its building rhythm and sound, leaves the listener feeling awe inspired, motivated and ready to seize the day.
I was here I lived, I loved I was here I did, I’ve done everything that I wanted And it was more than I thought it would be I will leave my mark so everyone will know I was here
In her chorus Beyoncé allows us to reflect on what we want from this world. Where do we want to be? Who do we want to touch? The fact that all the profits from this song went to the World Humanitarian Day, a global campaign to shine a spotlight on humanitarian work around the world, goes to show that making your mark can be something as little as helping someone on the street, volunteering or even being kind to someone. Knowing that you have left your mark in a positive way and had a positive influence will motivate you to get what you want done when listening to this song. You want to treasure each day of your life before time is up so make the most of it, be productive and always be moving on to bigger and better!
- I Am Light- India Arie
It must be noted that I have indeed cried many times to this song because as per when I am feeling low, I do that girly thing by listening to sad-ish music to make myself cry even more. Although this isn’t necessarily sad. This song allows one to reflect on what they have experienced, ‘the voices’ in their head and the ‘brokenness inside’ only to then state that the negative parts of what is called life does not shape us and we are indeed ‘light’. Light with connotations of the spiritual and divine, source of goodness and knowledge and avenger of all evil and darkness.
I’m not the mistakes that I have made Or any of the things that caused me pain I am not the pieces of the dream I left behind I am light, I am light
Despite the lows, India melodically instructs us on how to look past everything that has happened and see yourself for who you are and what you are capable of. It is an uplifting song that plays like a mantra and it wouldn’t be a bad way to start your day by repeating ‘I am light’ to yourself. A little on the religious side, I believe India is asking us to reflect on our relationship with God and how with God we can pull through. I love the line ‘I am divinity defined; I am God on the inside’. It makes me wonder how much kinder we would be to each other and most importantly to ourselves if we thought we were speaking to God directly or if God was within us. Positivity should be nurtured and cultivated first within us and our thoughts hence we are all light, we just need to find it, nurture it and sustain it but no matter what happens, we are light.
- Breathin’- Ariana Grande
Some days, things just take Way too much of my energy I look up and the whole room’s spinning
‘Just take a few breaths and calm down’. This is the line often uttered by my parents when I get worked up about something and only on a few occasions has it been bad to the point where I cannot steady my thoughts and everything becomes overwhelming resulting in a slight panic attack where I actually cannot breathe. Written for her Sweetener Album, Grande references her struggle with anxiety in this song and how there is no shortcut for curing her anxiety but to just take a breath. Instead of succumbing to the overwhelming things life may throw at us, Grande encourages us to push through and ‘just keep breathin’. It is ok to not feel great some days but here she reminds us that is it just a bad day, not a bad life and we just have to continue to do this thing called life and calm ourselves in the midst of life’s storms. How we breathe is so important for our well-being and ‘just keep breathin’ could also reference the way we can improve our breathing, for example starting with meditation.
Sometimes, it is quite difficult to navigate out of an anxiety attack and how you deal with attacks could even make it worse. It is not easy to refocus and steady your thoughts, tuning out the voices in your head, but breathin’ is the solution Ariana has found to overcome this and I hope we can all take this as a positive thing and to just keep breathing. Although easier said than done, we should be shifting our mindset to produce more positive thoughts and outcomes because a better day always comes.