What are your favorite songs about (or that inspire) joy or celebration?

One of the questions we ask on our traveling Community Literary Therapy Wall is “What does joy mean to you? How does it look, feel, sound, taste?” and I’m always impressed by the vivid descriptions people use to describe joy as a multi-sensory experience.

“Homemade gumbo in my slow cooker,” one person told us at the Black Joy Parade.

“Joy is an Inner Peace and feels like warmed Shea Butter poured all over my Body! It sounds like Nancy Wilson and taste like eating French Fries all Day!” from GetSomeJoy Ambassador Nubia Ptah on Instagram.

“It tastes like red onions and scallion cream cheese on a Beauty’s bagel. Pure enjoyment,” from our Literary Therapy Check-Ins at LavaMaeX pop-up care village in Downtown Oakland.

What songs channel that feeling?

We’ve asked community members during GetSomeJoy’s mental health check-ins on Twitter Spaces, Literary Therapy workshops, and across Janet Jackson’s Internet:

What songs come to mind when you think about joy? What are some of your favorite songs about, that inspire, or are connected to joy and celebration?

We cast a wide net and didn’t put any parameters on our requests.

These could be party songs...

…or praise james…

…hunching soundtracks…

or odes to any person, place, thing, situation, or occasion.

Because there’s no one way to find your joy.

We got all kinds of gems in return. Here is our our crowdsourced May 2022 GetSomeJoy Playlist.

What songs would you add to the list?

A few things to moisturize your spirit:

First, the best magic trick you’ll ever see in your life.

Last night, I checked in with visual artist Ameirah Neal, featured artist for GetSomeJoy’s June Art Therapy series. Ameirah shared about her life and creative journey, how her art supports her mental and emotional wellness, her upcoming exhibits and big picture plans.

With cameos by Darby Davis and Ianne Fields Stewart.

Watch our GetSomeJoy check-in here.

Also, if you need space to breathe and tend to your spiritual dancerie, we got you. GetSomeJoy’s first (of three) Spiritual Wellness Check-Ins with cultural worker, spiritualist, and coach Hakim Pitts takes place tonight, May 25 at 8pm EST via Zoom. It offers space to process, question, grieve, and breathe in response to this weekend’s inaugural workshop and this week’s events.

Learn more about tonight’s **Spiritual Wellness Check-In with Hakim Pitts here**.

The series is for anyone seeking to explore spirituality through an “African diasporic, BlackQueer Trans, Disability Justice lens and framework” within a safe, supportive, resourceful community.