Music in youth centers is not a problem – it is an opportunity for conversation.
Everything at once
Oh, this is one of those posts where everything wants to come out at the same time – where thoughts about music in youth centers land right in the middle of everything else.
👉 🇸🇪 Läs detta inlägg på svenska USA läser – jag skriver, bakar och tänker högt om världen
This is one of those posts where everything wants to come out at once.
A bit of statistics. A bit of bread. A bit of the world. And a lot of thoughts.
Music in youth centers is not a problem – it is an opportunity for conversation.
Because sometimes, that’s what life looks like.
Not divided. Not sorted.
But lived.
The US is reading – and I’m sitting here
When I look at my statistics, I see something that both surprises and touches me.
I have more readers in the US than here in Sweden.
There is something special about that.
To sit here, writing from my kitchen table – and reach people on the other side of the world.
That my words land somewhere I’ve never been.
And at the same time…
I just keep writing the way I always have.
About everyday life.
About life itself.
About what it feels like.
Sourdough, skrädmjöl and that little extra
And in the middle of all that – there is baking too.
Now that I’m starting to get the hang of gluten-free sourdough bread,
I’m already thinking about baking again today.
It will have to be in the morning – gluten-free doesn’t really wait the same way.
And skrädmjöl… honestly.
What kind of bread it becomes.
Nutty.
Chewy.
Moist.
The last one I baked was truly delicious.
The kind where you almost don’t believe it’s gluten-free.
And there’s something in that too.
To succeed with something you didn’t quite believe was possible.
The world – and not always having the full picture
I also think about what’s happening in the world.
I saw something about Pakistan helping in talks between Iran and the US.
And my first feeling was simply:
Good.
Well done.
But I’ll be honest – I don’t have the full picture.
And maybe that’s exactly what matters to say.
Because sometimes we move too quickly into opinions
without stopping in the fact that we don’t actually know everything.
I can feel respect for actions without agreeing with everything in a country’s leadership.
And I can have thoughts about world leaders without carrying the entire history behind it.
When politics becomes something real
But there are things I do react strongly to.
And that concerns statements from Jimmie Åkesson and Sverigedemokraterna.
I’ve almost stopped being shocked.
But I haven’t stopped thinking.
When it is said that Muslims cannot become Swedish – I stop.
Because what does that actually mean?
There are people born here, with Swedish parents, who choose a Muslim faith.
Where do they belong then?
Are they not Swedish?
It doesn’t make sense.
Why music in youth centers matters for conversation
And then this idea of banning certain music in youth centers.
Honestly… how does one even think that through?
Because this is not just about music.
It is about how we see young people.
To me, music in youth centers has never been a problem – it has been one of the most important tools.
Music in youth centers as a tool for conversation
I have sat in those rooms.
Not in youth centers – but in residential youth homes.
Places where young people live.
They are there because they cannot, or should not, live somewhere else at that moment.
Because they need to land.
Because they need to get away from the street.
And no one is there by choice in the beginning.
In sofas that have seen too many evenings.
In rooms where words are sometimes missing at first.
And then a song starts playing.
Lyrics that can be harsh.
Sometimes provocative.
Sometimes full of things we adults react to immediately.
And in that moment, I have had two choices:
To shut myself off and not take responsibility.
Or to stay – and start a conversation.
When you stay, something happens
When you don’t turn it off.
When you don’t say, “that’s wrong – we don’t listen to that here.”
Something happens.
Someone looks up.
Someone says:
“But do you hear what he’s actually saying?”
And suddenly we are there.
Not in the music.
But in life.
Because it is easy to shut down.
Harder to stay.
But that is where something can begin.
That is why music in youth centers matters – because that is where we meet.
What isn’t said out loud
Much of what young people carry is not said directly.
It comes through:
a song
a line of lyrics
an artist they identify with
And if we take that away…
We take away a language.
Music as reflection – not instruction
It is easy to believe that music controls.
That lyrics “do something” to young people.
But in my experience, it is often the opposite:
Music reflects something that is already there.
Feelings.
Thoughts.
Experiences.
And when we listen together, we can:
put words to it
turn it around
add nuance
That is where development happens.
Not in prohibition.
What happens if we ban music in youth centers?
If we ban the music – what happens then?
It doesn’t disappear.
It just moves.
Into headphones.
Into other places.
Into rooms where no adults are present.
And we lose the opportunity to be there.
But it’s not just that.
When we say the music is wrong –
we risk saying the young person is wrong.
And that is a price we cannot afford.
The conversation is lost.
Your opportunity as an adult to reflect what you hear – and question it – disappears.
One of our most important tools
Music has been one of my strongest tools in my work.
A way to:
build relationships
create trust
open up thoughts
add nuance where things otherwise become black and white
I have seen young people start to think differently.
Not because something was forbidden.
But because someone stayed.
If we remove music from youth centers, we also remove a path into conversation.
We remove our opportunity to influence.
But it requires engaged adults.
With grounded values – and the courage to actually start the conversation.
We don’t reach through control
We don’t reach people by shutting things down.
We reach them by:
listening
asking
staying
Because change does not happen in control.
It happens in relationship.
✨ AHA – Between the lines
This is not about music.
It is about how willing we are to meet what we don’t immediately understand.
And whether we choose to stay –
or step back.
And in the middle of it all – life
And in the middle of all this…
Statistics.
Thoughts.
The world.
Music.
Bread.
Life arrives.
The weather is beautiful.
And tomorrow – we are heading off.
Not far.
But away.
Out with LVL^2.
First trip to Trollhättan
and Stenröset camping.
And that feeling alone… is enough.
My husband has taken Friday off.
And we are going.
To park somewhere.
Feel the sun.
Light the grill.
Cook outside.
And just be.
Enjoy a kind of rest where cleaning doesn’t call from the corner.
Where demands can wait.
And time becomes softer.
Can it get any better?
I don’t think so.
💬 Questions for you
Have you ever used music as a way into conversation?
What happens in you when you hear something you don’t agree with?
Do you shut down – or stay?
How do you think we best reach young people today?
🌿 Reflection
This post started in statistics.
Landed in bread.
Moved out into the world.
And stayed in something that challenges.
But it doesn’t end there.
Because tomorrow we leave.
Out with LVL^2.
Towards Trollhättan.
And maybe that is the balance.
To think big –
and still live close.
To stay with what is difficult –
and still choose the sun, the grill, and the stillness.
To not step away from life
just because the world is ongoing.
And somewhere there…
between the thoughts, the bread and the journey
that is where I am.
🔗 Links to more to read
👉 ADHD in everyday life – when small things become big emotions
👉 Everyday life, ADHD and presence
👉 Gluten-free sourdough bread with skrädmjöl
💛 Support my writing
If you enjoy what I write and want to support me so I can continue:
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Yesterday has already come to rest in history.
Tomorrow is waiting somewhere ahead.
But right now – this is where life happens.
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