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2020, 27, Her Version of Events, Playlist,

The List

I have a desire to share my favorite love songs with the world: from the sound track for my primary school crush to my current national anthem, which I need to be banned from because of the insane number of times I have listened to the song on repeat in the last two months.

Please be nice in the comments because I believe the romantic part of Oreoluwa that is always in sleuth mood is about to be unleashed on the world.

Here goes nothing.

  1. All My Life by K-Ci and Jojo – You will have to thank my mum and uncle Demola for introducing me to this song, and music in general. When the realization of having feelings and what not hit me, the lyrics of the song felt like the only thing that captured everything I was feeling in that moment. 
  2. Two is Better Than One by Boys Like Girls – This song is on the Boys Like Girls ‘Love Drunk’ album from 2009. The album has got a song for every stage of love, from the tenderness that comes with falling in love to the heartache of lost love, and it is worth checking out. This song is on the list because I spent most of life believing love, with its component parts, was a fantasy and this song started the process of changing my mind. Shout out to my brother for knowing his way around torrents and downloading the album. 
  3. The Only Exception by Paramore – This song sums up how I feel about relationships; all the walls I have built to shield my Jell-O heart from melting, how I walk out from behind my walls when I am sure a person is an exception to all my many rules and my Jell-O heart is willing to take the risk of melting because it can’t afford to watch this person get away. 
  4. Where I Sleep By Emeli Sandé – “Except this is us and this is love, and this is where I’m home…” I love the idea of having a person I feel completely comfortable with, a person that is home on sunny and rainy days. Because really, everyone needs a home. 
  5. Please Keep Loving Me by James TW – I think James TW is one of the most underrated artists but we will get into that on another day. The song reminds me of all the things that can go wrong because I am who I am but in-spite of those things my heart is on my sleeve and loving is what I hope to keep doing. 
  6. Still Into You by Paramore – Love can start feeling familiar after a while, like a constant that no longer sparks excitement. But this song recounts important moments and captures the feelings in those moments. Maybe we need to stock up on those almost perfect moments to get through the hard ones in between. 
  7. Put It All On Me by Ed Sheeran and Ella Mai – “I need a strong heart and a soft touch”. I enjoy every line of this song and I have listened, sang along and danced to it an embarrassing number of times. It is just about having a home, a place to rest after the world has battered you.
  8. Grow As We Go by Ben Platt – This song reminds me of a line I wrote in my journal a few months ago: ‘’Love is active, it takes up its own life form, always evolving, to treat it as static is to bring about its death’’.  I believe we are evolving individually and life is boring alone, so why not evolve with another? Ben Platt captures this perfectly in this song. 
  9. Happy by Morayo and Johnny Drille –  It is just a happy, feel-good song that usually makes me dance and yes, I dance on very rare occasions. 

I am sure you have enjoyed the embarrassing debut of my romantic side. Again I ask, please be gentle with her. 

I have included a link to the playlist and also included other songs not listed above that I enjoy listening to!

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJwhC1-37_4c3SQXPzajoktbRYXObxIRW

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/user/oreoluwaabidoye/playlist/4Ut4FwIPQmknARBc9WqU8N?si=BOb8Y-7oTp6AFxAAvAxd-Q

2019, Playlist, Reflections,

Love Stories That Never Took Off – Introduction

“…love. Not the lasting kind, rather, the fleeting encounters that happen that make you consider forever and everything in between…”

To Love Stories That Never Took Off.

I have been thinking a lot about love. Not the lasting kind, rather, the fleeting encounters that happen that make you consider forever and everything in between but, for some reason, never quite work out.
These encounters usually consist of stolen, memorable moments, bright sparks of possibility and unclear intentions.
I wrote about one a few days ago and shared with my friends/editors. The feedback was great but what struck me the most was how they could all relate, how almost everyone had their own version of ‘’Love Stories That Never Took Off’’, an encounter with a ‘would-have-been’ bae. This got me thinking about sharing my story and other people’s stories on the website and I really hope you enjoy the stories we will be sharing in the coming weeks. So stay tuned and subscribed so you don’t miss them.

I have also gone ahead to put together an apple music playlist for this series – For Love Stories That Never Took Off

Playlist,

Ore’s Playlist August 2017

August was a month of important decisions and for the first time I felt the full effect of Adulthood. What I rest in is the fact that I am not going through the process alone, God is with me always. Psalms 46 vs. 10 “Be Still and Know That I am God” I have seen a good number of posters of this bible text but never committed it to heart until I read the whole chapter, it gave me new meaning on the presence of God in my life and God’s love that I believe we don’t talk about enough. The songs on this playlist for the month have helped me in my journey this month

So let’s get into the playlist;

Shekinahby Forerunner Music, Jaye Thomas and Cory Asbury;

The first time I heard this song was at the first Simple Worship in January, it is a song that invites the presence of God. This has become a Simple Worship stable, after the last Worship session I decided it was time to have the song on my phone and I have listened to it on replay since. It is one of those songs that comes up and you can’t help but desire more of God.

Sovereignover Us by Michael W. Smith

Bola my Co-host on About the Song introduced me to this song, it was on her playlist for 2016 and she will close her eyes when the song comes on and belt out the wordings with all her heart and lose herself in the song.
At the start of the month, the chorus of the songs wouldn’t stop playing in my head. So I decided to listen and meditate on the song, it became my anthem for the month. Many times, we forget the Sovereign power of God in our toil and start to wonder if God is even with us. There is a line that hits me all the time which is “even what the enemy means for evil you turn for our good and for your glory”. It teaches me to have peace all the time, in the raging storms and in the calm. The lyrics of the song sends a powerful message so please take a few minutes to read below.

There is strength within the sorrow
There is beauty in our tears
And you meet us in our mourning
With a love that casts out fear
You are working in our waiting
You’re sanctifying us
When beyond our understanding
You’re teaching us to trust
(Chorus)
Your plans are still to prosper
You have not forgotten us
You’re with us in the fire and the flood
You’re faithful forever
Perfect in love
You are sovereign over us
You are wisdom unimagined
Who could understand your ways
Reigning high above the Heavens
Reaching down in endless grace
You’re the lifter of the lowly
Compassionate and kind
You surround and you uphold me
And your promises are my delight
Even what the enemy means for evil
You turn it for our good
You turn it for our good and for your glory
Even in the valley, You are faithful
You’re working for our good
You’re working for our good and for Your glory
The one That Really Mattersby Michael W. Smith and Kari Jobe

I visited No. 16 Olukole and Mr Johnson said I needed to listen to this song and I did. This isn’t a song you get after one listen, it’s one you go back to every time you forget what matters, every listen brings new light on how God is truly the one that really matters. For this month, the song made me ask myself what really matters in my decision-making process and it was a call for prayer for me to let God really matter in my life.
You WaitedBy Travis Greene


Sometimes I am an  illegal distributor of songs and books, my friends Tofu asked if I could help her get this song that she almost ran out of data listening to the song on repeat on YouTube.  So, I listened to the song, it shows God is a lover that doesn’t give up, a lover that calls out, one that is patient, one that doesn’t let go after the chase. We hardly see God in this light. I remember a text in the book of Acts that talks about seeking God because he isn’t very far [Acts 17:27], so God is always lurking in the shadows and waiting to show you love and give light. 


Playlist,

Raining Season Reading List By Oluwadamilola Adisa

The rainy season, for me, is reminiscent of newness, a clean but messy space where almost anything is allowed and people are nicer and more sympathetic than usual, well some people. I am reminded of long forgotten rainy afternoons when my sisters and I would run around in the rain before my parents got back, and long, dull rainy days lit up by the exciting narratives of good books.
Rainy days are great days for introspection, the kind that heat and sun just won’t let you do. Something about rain falling slows us down, enough to think, to actually live. When it rains, we end up stuck in traffic, stuck in places that we can’t leave, stuck at home, waiting… And these moments of waiting, of pause, are viable moments for reflection, for living, for getting out of the vicious cycle of our thoughts and smelling the fresh, clean air that falling rain brings with it, and maybe thinking new thoughts or letting our minds wander down new paths and terrains.

Here’s a list of good books that will light up your days this rainy season.

A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

I saw “Isoken” recently and the only thing that I could relate the movie to was this classic by E. M. Forster. 
Oh! The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss
We all need a little sunshine especially in the dark and gloomy days characteristic of rainy seasons. We also need reminders sometimes that good and bad things happen to everyone, not just us. So, while we are waiting for the rain to stop falling, Dr. Seuss reminds us to stop the figurative waiting that we unconsciously do and start exploring. Plus, it has pictures, so there’s something here for everyone.

This is Water by David Foster Wallace

This is a short but contemplative read. It’s actually a commencement speech. David Wallace reminds us in this of the things that we so easily forget, so easily ignore. It is a call to focus on the truly important things.

You are a Badass by Jen Sincero

I loved this book. Jen Sincero’s voice in this book is honest and authentic. The quotes before each chapter will make you stop to think, sometimes. So, remember, even if a car splashes water on you some random day this season, you are still a badass.

Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit

This is a collection of essays and it left me more informed about feminism. It also left me a bit pissed off. I wanted to talk about this book for days and days after I read it. I still want to sometimes. 

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Because we all have some sort of resistance to work and this book gives us the extra motivation to push through it and get to work creating whatever it is we’ve been putting off: a perfect morning routine, a traffic playlist or more serious things like that project you should be working on.

The Art of Stillness by Pico Iyer

Everyone needs to be still sometimes.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

I enjoyed this book when I read it. It’s about a smart girl, Blue, who finds herself in a literal mess and finds that her father is not all he seems to be. I especially like the fact that the table of contents is literally a list of recommended classic texts if you like that kind of stuff.

Inferno by Dan Brown

Dan Brown is one of my favourite authors; I always enjoy travelling with Robert Langdon, his main protagonist, as he follows trails and deciphers codes in some very interesting and historical places. Inferno is his most recent work. I’m still paranoid about this. I still sort of think Inferno already happened and we’ve just not been told about it.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is one of my favourite authors. This is a mystery thriller about ten people on an island and is full of twists you can’t even think up.

The Defining Decade by Dr. Meg Jay

I loved this book because it made so much sense. It is about how to live the twenty-something life intentionally. If you’re as confused about adulting as I was, you might not find that the murky waters of adulting are suddenly clear, but you’ll be more comfortable with uncertainty. I mean, what does ‘supposed to’ even mean?

What are you reading currently?



Playlist,

Ore’s Playlist July 2017

For the most part of this month, I have listened to the Starlight album by Bethel Music on repeat. The album is really beautiful, it reminds me of the closeness of God, the fact that God is involved in every aspect of our day to day lives. It is also a reminder to show love and look for the beauty in the world regardless of all the hate and bitterness. So there are two songs from the album on this month’s playlist.
The next song on this month’s playlist is a song of submission to the process and letting God change us from the inside and not getting discouraged when we seem to be fail. The next is a song that tells of God’s beauty, and for the duration of the song you just enjoy singing along. The last is a song that will make you question why we love God, our reason for worship and service.
  • King of My Heart by Steffany Gretzinger and Jeremy Riddle (Bethel Music)
  • For The One by Jenn Johnson (Bethel Music)
  • Working on Me by CalledOut Music
  • Most High by Nosa and Nathaniel Bassy
  • Make Jesus Famous by Folabi Nuel

I really hope you connect to these songs and do let me know in the comments below what you are currently listening to and how it is teaching you to be better.