2024 Playlist for Florida Lawyer Well-Being | Florida Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company

A Lawyer Well-Being Birthday Dance Party: Celebrating 35 Years of Serving Florida Lawyers — And YOUR Personal Growth — Through Musical Discovery!

By Aaron H. Wallace, Esq.

The thing I love most about music is the power of a single song to totally transform the energy in a room.

For each of the last four years, I’ve had the pleasure of creating the annual Florida Lawyers Mutual Music Playlist for Florida Lawyer Well-Being, part of our recurring Well-Being Week in Law celebration. Each song is hand-picked for its ability to uplift, encourage, or inspire lawyers… and let me tell you, the net effect of having hours of positive music playing on a loop is incalculably heartening.

This year, the playlist is extra special, because we here at Florida Lawyers Mutual are celebrating 35 years of service to Florida lawyers! To commemorate the occasion, we’re expanding our playlist to 35 new tracks this year… including a few 1989 hits that are turning 35 alongside us!

By design, the playlist is reflective of a wide range of artists, eras, and musical styles. To my knowledge, none of the composers have practiced law, and yet so many of these songs seem to resonate squarely with the emotional struggles and work-life challenge that lawyers face every day.

In our Lawyer Well-Being Resource Center, we talk often about the value of exploring new music and incorporating familiar favorites into your workday. Musical discovery is one of the most exciting mechanisms for expanding our horizons, which can in turn keep us planted in an environment of growth. I hope these selections will help you accomplish each of those aims.

To hear the 35 new songs added for 2023, click here: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Or stream all 125 songs selected so far (including those from 2021 and 2022), click here: Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube.

Here are just a few of my favorites among the new selections:

Permission to Dance by BTS

A central tenet of the Lawyer Well-Being movement is that our mental and emotional wellness are inherently linked to our physical health. As the old adage goes, if you’re stuck in your head, it’s time to move your body. Dance can unleash endorphins unlike anything else. As self-serious lawyers, the notion of busting a move can seem uncomfortable or embarrassing, especially outside of a dance floor. That’s why we have this ultra-catchy anthem from K-Pop sensation BTS to remind us: you don’t need permission to dance.

Shake It Off (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift

The original “Shake It Off” was part of our inaugural playlist. Now, Ms. Swift is back with a newly recorded version — part of her war to win intellectual property rights to her music that has surely intrigued all our IP attorney readers — and this time we’re putting her “Taylor’s Version” in the mix. Let’s face it: we could all use a reminder to “shake off” our stress at least once a year.

What You Heard by Amy Grant

Inspired directly by therapy sessions with her daughter, this provocative song from Kennedy Center honoree Amy Grant reminds us that our words can impact others in a way that differs from our intentions — and the intentions don’t always mean as much as we’d like them to. That’s why considerate communication is so important. Think of the song as a challenge toward excellence in professionalism and interpersonal communication (and a case study for the insights that can come from therapy!).

Teach Your Children by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

This timeless song seems especially appropriate for our 35th anniversary, as our Company’s founders impart the lessons of Florida Lawyers Mutual’s early years to our newer team members… and as we remind newcomers to Florida’s bar community of the historic, game-changing impact that Florida Lawyers Mutual made on the practice of law in the Sunshine State.

HAHA by Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul

I heard this song on the radio while traveling in Belgium last year, and I was immediately transfixed. The entire song is sung by a woman laughing, and the effect is hypnotic (in the best way!). For a song with few lyrics, it works as a powerful philosophy for getting through life!

I Can Do it with a Broken Heart by Taylor Swift

Another selection from reigning pop phenom Taylor Swift: this one about our superpower as humans to do what needs to be done, even in the midst of heartache or sorrow. If you’re currently struggling to face the day because of a heavy heart, I hope this song will help to inspire and empower you. After all, we as lawyers may not be touring the world or performing in front of sold-out stadiums every night, but the weight of the profession can feel every bit as demanding.

People by Barbra Streisand

Well-Being Week in Law emphasizes the importance of social connection and relationship, which studies have consistently determined are the foundational building blocks of human happiness. Indeed, people who need people are the luckiest people – and the only people, because we all need each other.

You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban

Well-Being Week in Law reminds us that when our souls grow weary, we can look to faith, spirituality, or belief in a power higher than our own to nourish our spirits and reveal truth to the eyes of our hearts.

We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel

Between war, social unrest, and geopolitical strife, life in our world can often feel daunting. We are each but one individual, and yet we feel an inherent (and noble) need to find solutions for the world’s problems. That pressure may be especially acute for those of us in “the noble profession,” problem solvers by nature. Billy Joel’s iconic rock hit — also turning 35 this year — reminds us that we didn’t make the mess of the world, and while we can each contribute to a better future, none of us has the responsibility of solving society’s ills alone.

Wait for the Healing (Live) by Amy Grant

Recorded live in concert in 1989, this electrifying track seems to perfectly capture the larger-than-life enthusiasm and wild abandon of the 1980s. We love that it captures the essence of 1989 — the year we issued our very first E&O policies to Florida law firms — in sound. Lyrically, the song reflects on the chaos and the promise of the 1960s in America… and the healing balm of youthful optimism. Today’s world mirrors that of the 1960s in many ways. May this song’s message inspire us toward some curative optimism all our own.

Thank you for coming along on this Well-Being Week in Law 2024 journey. But wait — there’s more! Be sure to visit our Lawyer Well-Being Resource Center for more music, content, and tools to help you live your life and profession to the fullest.

Listen to This Year’s 35 New Songs on Apple Music

Listen to This Year’s 35 New Songs on Spotify

Listen to This Year’s 35 New Songs on YouTube

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