The Weekly List: Music For Making

I came home to my apartment this past Friday to a deafening silence; not one of my roommates was home. As I came to the realization that each had departed campus for their respective President’s Day weekend adventures, I began to realize that the “introvert” label I had long ascribed to myself was less founded than I’d thought. I began pacing my living room, feeling a restlessness–an existential antsy-ness–that I rarely feel in my ordinarily buzzing apartment.

I began to feel concerned that perhaps I was the detestable stereotyped millenial the internet had warned me of– was I really unable to entertain myself without constant external stimuli? Yikes. “No,” I assured myself, “certainly not!”.

The constant activity on Georgetown’s campus makes it easy to forget how to entertain yourself; there’s rarely a day that goes by without some speaker event, musical, or Tomb’s night to occupy your slim free time. This aspect of life at Georgetown is part of what makes it a wonderful place. But, in my case, I’ve come to cherish the long weekends–like this one–when campus goes quiet. They remind me of one of the things I most love to do in this world: make. Making comes in many forms–cooking, painting, photographing, writing, etc.. And never fear, building pillow forts counts equally, as well (though, to be quite honest, experience yields that they’re not quite as fun in an empty apartment). Pick your poison. Creating something with one’s own hands is pretty awesome–not to mention cathartic, meditative, and empowering–in a world fixated on providing pre-fabricated and neatly packaged entertainment left and right. Making often isn’t considered a priority in this world, but I’m convinced it deserves as much a place in the ol’ google calendar as any meeting or lecture period.

In my experience, the process of making is enhanced only by a good soundtrack. And, so, here I present a playlist of songs that have never failed to provide a good backdrop to an afternoon of painting, cooking, or what have you. Alabama Shakes and Best Coast provide upbeat tempos to keep energy up, while Shakey Graves and Jason Isbell have you covered for the more meditative music you seek once you’ve gotten into the “zone.” This collection of artists should make for a creative endeavor, solitary or otherwise, that rivals any Netflix binge or sloppy Henle rager.

Happy making.

[8tracks url=”https://8tracks.com/clibre/songs-for-making” ]

Tracklist: