40 | a playlist + photo challenge for september

happy september, all you lovelies out there! i love this month. i love how it is a transition month, moving us from the last long days of summer, to the colorful, cozy days of autumn (or vice-verse, if you live in the southern hemisphere. you know what i mean… winter to spring). this september is extra special to me. and here is your warning: you may be annoyed by me by the end of the month.

you see, i am turning 40 this month! and i am super excited. not scared, not upset, not anything, but joyful and grateful – and in the mood to celebrate all 30 days (and 10 more days into october. hehe.). it feels like this is a high milestone, bigger than the ones of the past. 16, 18, 21, 25, 30. they were all big, of course. rites of passage and such. but, this seems monumental. like a huge shift. and, while that may be scary for some, it feels exciting and overwhelming (in an amazing way).

therefore, i want to celebrate. all. month. long. poor lina. poor you, too, dear readers.

i want to celebrate that feeling of coming into my own. and the knowledge that it just just better (even if it gets worse or difficult). it’s always a journey of transformation and growth. ever-moving forward. never backward. always up higher and much deeper. and i welcome that. i cherish that.

so, here’s what i’ve done. i’ve decided to make a playlist on spotify. yay! something that incorporates lots of new songs, but with a definite “liz” feel to them all. i found them mostly all on the radio – listening to a local, independent, channel that plays things that are as far away from top 40 music as possible. then, i just put them all together. all 40 of them (40 on purpose, you know. wink, wink.). i also decided that for the next year, until my next birthday, i will create a playlist every month – and i am super duper looking forward to capturing my 40th year in music!

click on the title to go to spotify and follow the playlist (40 | september.14).

i’d love to share music with you for the month. if you have any suggestions for october’s playlist, i’m already beginning to assemble songs and ideas. just leave a comment and let me know!

i also did something else. i created a photo challenge for the month! i haven’t created a challenge since may (i think). it was so great to have a break, after about 3 years of photo challenges. and i ended up taking three months off. but, belovelive photo journeys are back starting today!

now, i’ve been racking my brain trying to some up with some kind of theme for weeks. knowing that i wanted to do this. but, nothing came to mind. at. all. until yesterday.

since i had this playlist, and it was something that i was going to use to set the tone/vibe for my september, i decided not to spread myself too thin, but to make my photo challenge based no the playlist. so, this month, we’ve got a music-inspired photo journey – and i am so excited!

i looked at my playlist and hit the “time” button to arrange the songs by time (that way they are also shuffled around a bit). and i went from there creating my photo challenge. so, all 40 songs are there. arranged from the shortest to the longest. and it just so happened that “setting forth” by eddie vedder is the first song! how crazy is that. talk about the universe lining up. hehe.

so, i simply used the titles as the word prompts for the day. now, this may be challenging, or irrelevant, or confusing for all of us. but, i thought, that if we are confused, we can simply listen to (or google!) the lyrics and see if the lyrics or music inspire us in anyway. that should help us decide how to photo something in our every day. this means that we all have bunches of creative freedom with our photos. so, just let the song of the day speak to you, and see what you want to snap for your photo. no pressure. just enjoy. and maybe, you’ll find a new song or two that you love. (remember, most of the songs are new for me too).

so, let’s get out there and take some photos! remember, to use the has tags #bllphotoaday and #mymonthofmusic if you are sharing your photos on instagram or Facebook or twitter. i would loooove to see what you come up with!!

| i have also included a list here of all of the artists and their songs, so you can search for them online, if you would like. just in case you don’t have spotify. they are arranged in the same order as the photo challenge. here, i’ve listed the artist first and then the title of the song. here you go! |

Eddie Vedder – Setting Forth
Leftover Salmon – Liza
Fred Perry – Our Day Will Come – Mashup Remix
Jason Isbell – Stockholm
Lucero – A Dangerous Thing
Tracy Grammer – Gentle Arms Of Eden
Pina – I Loved The Way
Mandolin Orange – Birds of a Feather
The Milk Carton Kids – Hope Of A Lifetime
The Wailin’ Jennys – One Voice
Leftover Salmon – Stop All Your Worrying
Chris Knight – House and 90 Acres
Frazey Ford – September Fields
Of Monsters And Men – Mountain Sound
Gregory Alan Isakov – That Moon Song
First Aid Kit – My Silver Lining
Sarah Jarosz – Build Me Up From Bones
Holly Williams – Drinkin’
Eddie Vedder – Society
Agnes Obel – Brother Sparrow
Keira Knightley – Lost Stars
Shovels & Rope – The Devil Is All Around
Shovels & Rope – Lay Low
The Gabe Dixon Band – All Will Be Well
Leftover Salmon – Mountian Top
Mandolin Orange – There Was A Time
Holy Ghost Tent Revival – Right State of Mind
Trampled By Turtles – Alone
The Milk Carton Kids – Years Gone By
Passenger – Life’s for the Living
The Honeycutters – Fancy Car
Ben Fields – Extraordinary Light
Lou Reed – Beginning Of A Great Adventure
The Head And The Heart – Down in the Valley
Pierce Edens – Montana
Pierce Edens – Wayfaring Stranger
Ben Howard – Old Pine
Lera Lynn – Out to Sea
Trampled By Turtles – Wild Animals
Gregory Alan Isakov – The Stable Song

peace, love, & music. xoxo