living in a post lemonade world

It has been a week since the launch of Lemonade. Since I have a blog I get the opportunity to share a week’s worth of thoughts, feelings (lots of feelings), conversation, discussion, commentary on the subject. There are far more interesting, educational & academic posts out in the world which I suggest you google instead of starting here, this one is a favorite.

But my adoration level for Beyonce is high so I feel a need to express my thoughts. In fact, this is not my first Beyonce themed post on the blog. My first one dates back to the On The Run Tour, when I gushed about Jay & Bey's display of love on stage, hmmmm. 

Surprisingly, I was about 36 hours late to the Lemonade conversation, and for no good reason. But Monday morning at work the tracks were playing on repeat coming from my coworkers desks, the conversations were flowing and the energy amongst a group text (that we quickly renamed ‘the beyhive’) was at an all time high. So I jumped right in, not watching the film but listening to the tracks on a bootlegged version of the visual album that was shared through a link on Facebook. I was streaming it, complete with the poetry voiceover, as I was pushing through emails, building a keynote, commuting home, bringing Mo home. I could not help myself. Finally once in bed I played the first few songs with video while going to bed late and needing to wake up six and a half hours later. 

The next morning I did the same thing. Played the tracks (via video) through my aux cord as I drove to spin class. I didn’t want to hear anything else. I was disappointed not to be hearing all of the tracks during my 45 minute spin session. Listening to anything else was lackluster, depressing even. After taking a half day at work in prep for my trip to Palm Springs I watched the video start to finish (on my phone) while getting a pedicure. It was nothing short beautiful. A story full of emotion and vulnerability. I was hanging on every word and every beat. I was piecing it all together and it was an experience. The art direction, the styling, the music and the poetry of Warsan Shire all together was heavy and beautiful. I was floored and in love all at the same time. I could not stop listening to it or thinking or talking about it and fortunately no could anyone else.

Thank you Beyonce for the story, the visuals, the music and the introduction to the poetry of Warsan. You got me.

Ok, done now. I have already written way more than I was initially going to allow myself to. All I really wanted to do was to direct you to the above article on Medium which did a really good job summit it up. 

xx Ly