Keep Pushin'

Ugh. I've been so stressed lately and just in an all-around bad mood. I think it started when I was sick, then the holidays were sad because our family lost two important people this fall, and now finals are bumming me out. Thankfully, a break is coming soon, and I plan to use that time to recuperate and rejuvenate.

The past couple of months, I've been creating a kickass playlist. I read a book a few years ago that challenged women to try to only listen to music by female musicians. I'm trying it out, and it's really empowering.

Here are a few good ones from that list. I hope you'll find some of these songs as uplifting as I do.

1. Nikka Costa - "Keep Pushin'"

This is one of my favorite artists lately.

I'm holdin' steady
Goin' bout my business, I'll wait till they're ready
Keeping my truth in whatever I do
Makin' sure the light inside of me
Still shines through

2. Julie Roberts - "Break Down Here"

I miss X. Now more than ever. He'd know what to do.

I'd sure hate to break down here
Nothin up ahead or in the rearview mirror
Out in the middle of nowhere knowin
I'm in trouble if these wheels stop rollin
So God help me keep me movin somehow
Dont let me start wishin I was with him now
I made it this far without cryin a single tear
And I'd sure hate to break down here.

3. Alissa Moreno - "Wildfires"

though i've been crushed, i've been killed
i am scared, but god, i will
keep on trudging up this crazy hill

we survive, we get by
we take those hits
and we learn to fight
we collide, but we don't die
trying to put out wildfires

5. Sia - "Breathe Me"

The music in this song is what makes it so powerful and so beautiful.

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
and needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

6. Adrianne - "10,000 Stones"

10,000 stones hanging deep in my heart
No, I don`t know how they don`t tear me apart
How could I ever believe
10,000 stones would save the fool in me
10,000 stones would be a strange blessing
10,000 stones would build the best of me

7. Holly Williams - "Sometimes"

I wish I were an old man, a scholar
With the wisdom of a 1,000 men before me
wish I were a funny dream that haunted
The people I love every time they were down

I wish I was a fine wine
I wish I were a good drug
Hey and if I were Jesus , maybe I could heal all of us
Just like a good lover, which one do you prefer?
In a world full of vices, I wish I were a little bird
Sometimes

8. Missy Higgins - "Steer"

So hold this feeling like a newborn
Of freedom surging through your veins
You have opened up a new door
So bring on the wind, fire and rain

It was always simple, not hidden hard
You've been played at a game called remembering your name
And you stuffed it up

But the search ends here
Where the night is totally clear
And your heart is fierce
So now you finally know that you control where you go
You can steer

9. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - "Treat Me Right"

I love the blues, and I love this band because their sound is bluesy. Do you ever hear a song and almost wish you had a broken heart just so you'd feel the song more? I wish I had this song after a few of my bad break-ups. It'd be a good salve for a broken heart.

C'mon, C'mon, C'mon you've got to treat me right
All the time, squeeze me like a key lime
C'mon, C'mon, C'mon you've got to quit the fight and fall into the night

Treat me right and don't you do me wrong
Play for keeps don't just play along
O will give you all the love I got

10. Charlotte Martin - "Beautiful Life"

I love the piano.

So swim to the end of the river
Until there's no shiver left in your spine
Live like there won't be tomorrow
See through your sorrow
See through your own eyes
Try to remember these days down the road
And try to remember this time

The sun may come up and go down again
I'll still swear it's a beautiful life

11. Idina Menzel - "I Stand"

'Cause I stand for the power to change,
I live for the perfect day.
I love till it hurts like crazy,
I hope for a hero to save me.

I stand for the strange and lonely,
I believe there's a better place.
I don't know if the sky is heaven,
But I pray anyway.

12. Maxwell - "This Woman's Work"

This is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. It's lifted my spirits for a long time now.

I know you have a little life in you yet
I know you have a lot of strength left
I know you have a little life in you yet
I know you have a lot of strength left

I should be crying but I just can't let it show
I should be hoping but I can't stop thinking
Of all the things we should've said that we never said
All the things we should have done that we never did