What radical self-care journey is complete without a little road trip music? There are going to be plenty of emotional stages that you will have to navigate on the path to becoming the greatest and highest version of yourself. As someone who genuinely believes that their life is actually the plot of a movie still haven’t figured out which genre though I am here to give you a little insight on what stages your journey could potentially enter and of course offer some background music recommendations

My go to choice for our first radical self-care playlist is in honor of Queen Bey herself, Beyoncé. If there’s anything that everyone in our solar system can agree on is that Beyoncé is that grrrl, so here are my suggestions for which of her greatest hits are the greatest fit for each stage of your radical self-care journey! Listen to the Radically In Love playlist here or continue reading to find out which Beyoncé song is currently the background music to your life.

Stage 1: Denial (Crazy in Love)

The first stage that you will most likely have to work through on your journey is denial, which is the sneakiest stage of them all. In this stage you’re living life without caution, which is super fun but also extremely dangerous. You are probably making decisions that grant you instant gratification either completely unaware of the consequences it will have on you later or trying your best to ignore them.

Whether you are in this stage because of denial, ignorance, or naivety or you’re always just generally confused like me there is an issue that you are currently avoiding. Sometimes what you want to feel right can actually be the worst thing for you, so my song selection for this stage is Crazy in Love. This song is perfect for the first stage because it is all about pouring into someone, or something, else that is not reciprocating the same energy back for you. No matter how good something feels at the moment it is not worth putting it before your own needs.

Got me looking, so crazy, my baby, I’m not myself lately, I’m foolish, I don’t do this, I’ve been playing myself, baby, I don’t care!

CRAZY IN LOVE X BEYONCé

It is not a coincidence that the hook of this song is Beyonce singing “Uh-Oh!” repeatedly. When you don’t care about yourself or what happens to yourself you are setting yourself up to be hurt! You are actively choosing to create more and more distance in the relationship you have with yourself, which can be extremely dangerous.  

Stage 2: Awareness (Pretty Hurts)

The next stage after denial is awareness. When I stopped pretending that nothing was wrong with the way that I was behaving or thinking towards myself, all of the pain that I was running from hit me like a ton of bricks and my life seemed to be frozen in time. World stop, carry on.

Pretty Hurts is the perfect song for this stage in your radical self-care journey because it is all about becoming aware of the ways that we have changed ourselves in order to hide from our biggest insecurities. Trying to cover up your pain only delays your healing.

You stripped away the masquerade, The illusion has been shed, Are you happy with yourself?

PRETTY HURTS X BEYONCé

After I eventually decided to acknowledge that I wasn’t happy, I realized that I actually hadn’t been happy for a really long time. I was just going through the motions pretending to feel good because I was afraid to deal with what being unhappy with myself really meant. Without any distractions or toxic coping mechanisms where would that leave me? How would I really feel?

Stage 3: Accountability (Don’t Hurt Yourself)

This is probably the hardest stage of a radical self-care journey. This stage is a positive process but takes an immense amount of personal fortitude to endure. The acceptance stage can be extremely uncomfortable because this is where you are coming face to face with your personal truths. Which can cause feelings of identity loss, bouts of anxiety, and maybe a full on life crisis. *Cue explosion sounds*

I chose Don’t Hurt Yourself for this stage because this is typically where you begin to find fault in your own actions and can fall into patterns of self-blame, guilt, hatred, or even depression. It’s absolutely normal to feel this way, you have spent your whole life acting one way just to realize it’s not working anymore, which can be very scary. That’s why I’m here, to explain to you that you are not alone, you are just experiencing the shift in perspective necessary for you to grow as a person.

When you hurt me, you hurt yourself, Don’t hurt yourself.

DON’T HURT YOURSELF X BEYONCÉ

It is extremely easy to fall into self-deprecating behavior at this stage because you are holding yourself accountable for the part that you played in causing your own pain. Please remember to try to give yourself some grace. If you knew better you would have done better and now that you do know better you are taking the steps required to feel better. Also, keep in mind that there are some forces that are out of your control. You didn’t deserve the bad situations that you have been placed in, just find comfort in knowing that you have the power to overcome them.

Stage 4: Responsibility (Halo)

The fourth stage of your self-care journey can feel really empowering, which is exactly what you need after surviving stage three. There are I survived stage three t-shirts in the gift shop. This is the stage where you realize that you are responsible for your own happiness, safety, and health. When we are little we look towards others to help keep us safe like our parents and teachers but as you grow older you learn that you are the only authority on you.

I am choosing the song Halo to represent the fourth stage of your radical self-care journey because you are taking the steps to protect yourself against any further harm. You finally understand your own worth because you have worked to developed a core part of yourself that can never be diminished or destroyed. Metaphorically, you are stepping up and becoming your own radical self-care guardian angel!

Remember those walls I built? Well, baby, they’re tumblin’ down And they didn’t even put up a fight. They didn’t even make a sound. I found a way to let you win, but I never really had a doubt Standin’ in the light of your halo, I got my angel now.

HALO X BEYONCÉ

In this stage I realized that it was no one else’s job to make myself happy, I had to find the power within myself to get there. I learned that it was my job to be there to protect myself from mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual harm because out of the love and respect that I developed for myself. I started to care what happened to me, and it made a radical difference. I no longer tolerated negative energy created by myself or anyone else.

Stage 5: Intention (Love On Top)

The final stage of your radical self-care journey is called intention. You are finally healed, or in a place where you are starting to heal from your past trauma and can finally let go and move forward with intention. Meaning that you are intentional about where you place your energy and only focus on what is going to help you to protect your peace, and continue to help you grow as a person.

Love On Top is the perfect song choice for this stage because you know your own worth. You know that you no longer entertain negativity because you know that you deserve the love and respect that you give out. Your cup is overflowing with positive loving energy and you are ready to focus on whatever is going to continue to make you happy.

Come on, baby, it’s you! You’re the one that gives your all. You’re the one I can always call. When I need to make everything stop, Finally, you put my love on top!

LOVE ON TOP X BEYONCÉ

This stage, in my humble opinion, is hands down the best stage to experience because you are finally aligned with your greatest and highest purpose, which feels like the moment you finally get your lashes to stay glued down. Seriously, why is that so hard!? You start to feel like yourself again, except for one hundred times better, because you have developed healthy lifestyle habits that help make the worst days better and the best days brighter.

Stage 2: Legendary (Alien Superstar)

No you are not hallucinating, You’re just hearing voices in your head silly there is still one more stage of your radical self-care journey that even some of the most radical of grrrlies have yet to reach called ✨Legendary✨. Legend has it that once you have finally leveled up to your most high self you become an Alien Superstar, which makes the song Alien Superstar from Beyoncé’s latest album Renaissance the perfect song choice. Nothing can phase you in this stage because you have finally realized there is no limit to the extent of your own power! You are a magnet that attracts only the highest, most positive energy. You know that anything that you want is already yours. You can move mountains, you can make it rain, your life has exceeded your expectations and you feel powerful because you put the energy and time into yourself, and your dreams, to get there. Rad.

I’m one of one, I’m number one, I’m the only one! Don’t even waste your time trying to compete with me, No one else in this world can think like me!

ALIEN SUPERSTAR X BEYONCÉ

As you go through your radical self-care journey, try not to be so hard on yourself. Healing is not linear, so sometimes you are gonna have to hit shuffle on the playlist or even repeat. Emotions are meant to be felt so take your time. The only way to get over it is to go through it. The most important thing to remember is that you are building a stronger, wiser, more confident you who knows better and is ready to do better. So do it like Beyoncé and go run the world grrrl and don’t forget to check out the Radically In Love playlist on Spotify!