Rise (Sing it Loud) | Music Monday

Today is that dreaded day we have to return to work or school after the holidays. Yuck! I promise you I lingered in bed this morning. My decadent mint chocolate keto coffee usually coaxes me out of hiding each morning, but I’m doing a dairy elimination challenge for January… so best not to think about that! Check in with me in a few weeks, but at the moment I am not motivated or inspired by nut milks. Grumble.

It’s in these sticky moments that I reach for my “Be Amazing” playlist and put on something with a rollicking beat I can’t ignore. Today I’m getting that from Rise (Sing it Loud) by Caroline Jones. Like many of my favorite songs, it builds louder and faster as it goes but even the first happy beats have me smiling and dancing – not to mention that the video’s scenes of horseback riding through idyllic fields give me serious life inspiration for 2022. Because of my lipedema legs I’ve never been on a horse, but I’m channeling equine vibes this year. Let’s go for a ride, sturdy women!

Horses aside, I love Rise (Sing it Loud) for the reminder it gives me to listen to myself, trust myself, and loudly celebrate that. Each verse she returns to, “I must be quiet enough to hear the sound, the song inside my soul. I’m going to write it down. I’m going to sing it loud.” I love the idea that, not only does my soul have a song, but it needs to be shared joyfully, loudly, and unapologetically. At the end, right before she takes off on the final verse at full speed, the music takes a breath and she sings:

No matter where you land or how far you may fall

You have heart, you have hands

And the highest calling of our lives

Is to find the grace in the very place we stand

And rise

Caroline Jones, Rise (Sing it Loud)

Sturdy Women, the place we stand with lipedema, lymphedema, and chronic illness is often painful and lonely, but can you find the grace in it? Can you see yourself through eyes of love and compassion? What’s the song inside of your soul and what heights could it raise you to on this Monday? Pop in those ear buds, close your eyes, and allow yourself to rise free, even if for only three minutes. No one is watching, but we are all cheering.