Our Year of Listening

Graphic: Brown background. Main section: White text, “Our Year [at top] of Listening [at bottom]” in circular format around center image of sunburst, blue circle in center, with yellow moon in center of circle. In between white text is outlined hands. Subtitle: “Spotify music & podcasts playlists by, [we here logo with white text].”

Community Admin Nicollette Davis put together a call for we here members to add their top three songs and/or top three podcasts of 2020 to collaborative lists for we here. That’s it — no date restrictions. What came from it is beautiful 🤩 Shuffle recommended for the utmost groove on the music side. Thank you to all the community members who made this possible!

Check out both playlists:

More from Nicollette:

At the beginning of December, Spotify released the 2020 Wrapped Playlist for all of their subscribers. Across social media, folks began to share what their year looked like in music. In the midst of the pandemic and the subsequent quarantine, many people (including myself) surrounded themselves with sounds and music to help lift their spirits. Personally, music has always been a huge asset in my life. I can think back to certain fond, joyful and even sad memories and attach a song to that mood. My taste in music definitely reflects my personality but for others, it may reflect something different. Still, I’m always interested to learn about what people listen to. It makes me feel connected to them in some way, even if our musical preferences are polar opposites. Music is very social. Sometimes the music we listen to in the company of others is quite different from the music we listen to when we’re alone or with friends/family. I was curious to know how 2020 (and all that it was) shaped what people listened to and wanted to give folks a space to share what they were listening to without fear of shame or rejection.

This curiosity led me to ask we here members in one of the closed spaces what their 2020 looked like in music. The response was amazing, and I enjoyed getting to see the musical side of my fellow we here family. It wasn’t until Andrew (he/him) commented on the post and mentioned how fun it would be for all of us to collaborate on a playlist. We all appreciate him for putting forth such an amazing idea. From there, the ball was rolling and the excitement about having a playlist for the we here family grew! Special shout out to Nandini (she/her), who also helped bring this to life!

Andrew stated, “Playlists like these are important for the community because it allows us to share a part of ourselves with other and to celebrate together in community, no matter the distance.”

Nandini shared, “My personal identity is constructed very much around music and I love sharing that part of my identity with others! Music keeps us all connected!”

With these thoughts from our community members in mind, we look forward to bringing more of these opportunities to our we here members! Cheers to 2021!