Songs of our story 🎶
Hello friends!
If you’ve read even a few pages of Coloring Outside the Lines, you know music is my oxygen. Or skip ahead to Chapter 10.
It’s always with me, blasting in the car, humming in the background while I cook dinner, spinning on vinyl, or tugging at my heart during a late-night writing session. Music is the love language I never stop speaking.
When Chris was in rehab, I couldn’t text him, call him, or see him. But I could send him pieces of my soul through songs. So I grabbed my purple iPod Shuffle (yes, the one I still take snowboarding), erased my favorite playlist, and made a new one just for him. I called it Addicted to Us.
Every track told a part of our story — the heartbreak, the longing, the hope I was clinging to even in the silence. Songs like “Shelter” by Joy Oladokun, “Storms” by Mr. Carter Davis, and “Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap carried me through nights I didn’t think I’d make it through.
Sending that playlist felt like being sixteen again, scribbling down song lyrics and passing notes in class. My palms were sweaty, my heart was racing, but it was the only way I knew how to say, I still believe in us.
Some of you asked for the music that wove through this book, and I would love to share the full playlist with you now [HERE ON SPOTIFY]. It’s a full 7 hours of playtime that I’ve been adding to since 2023.
My hope is that you’ll find a song or two that holds you in your gray, the way these songs held me in mine.
Because music doesn’t just set the mood. It anchors the moment. It reminds us of who we are when words fall short.
With love and gratitude.
Katie Bowick
