A Fresh Start for 2026
Why we're transitioning from "healing through music" to building a living archive
If you’re reading this, you signed up for a newsletter about healing through music.
You came here for lyric breakdowns, journaling prompts, playlists, and stories about how songs help us process emotions and grow. And I’ve loved creating that for you. It’s been sacred work.
But I need to be honest with you: something’s been shifting.
The thing I thought I was building vs. what’s actually emerging
When I started Pieces x Pages, I believed I was creating a focused space — music as a healing tool for Black queer millennial women navigating self-love and emotional growth. That was true. That was real. That mattered.
But the more I wrote, the more I realized: music was never just about healing for me.
Music has always been about memory. About bearing witness. About creating a record of what moves us, what we survive, what gets overlooked, what shapes culture in ways the mainstream will never acknowledge.
I wasn’t just breaking down lyrics to help us feel better. I was doing archive work. I was collecting evidence of our humanity. I was building a canon.
And once I saw that, I couldn’t unsee it.
What “living archive” actually means
A living archive isn’t static. It breathes. It evolves. It holds space for:
Black culture in all its complexity, beauty, and resistance
Queer stories that don’t get told in mainstream spaces
Overlooked news — the stories affecting marginalized communities that major outlets ignore or bury
Spiritual practice — decolonizing Christianity, astrology, divination, ancestral work
The art that moves us — music (yes, still music), film, TV, books, visual art, creators doing sacred work
The process of becoming — because what we choose to curate, study, and preserve says everything about who we’re becoming and who we want to impact
This isn’t me abandoning what we’ve built together. This is me expanding the container to hold everything I’ve been carrying.
The healing through music work? Still here. The playlists, the lyric breakdowns, the journaling prompts, the channeled messages? Still here.
But now they live inside something bigger. Something that can hold investigative journalism alongside poetry. Cultural commentary alongside spiritual rituals. News analysis alongside creator spotlights.
Why I’m telling you this now
Because some of you signed up for one thing and you’re about to get something much wider. And you deserve to know what you’re walking into.
I don’t want anyone to feel blindsided. I don’t want you to wonder where the “music and healing” newsletter went. It didn’t go anywhere. It just grew roots and branches.
If this evolution doesn’t resonate with you, I understand. You’re welcome to unsubscribe, and there’s no hard feelings. I want you here because this space actually serves you, not because you feel obligated.
But if this expansion excites you? If you’ve been waiting for me to go deeper, wider, bolder? If you’re a Black sheep, a soft-spoken leader, someone healing in real time while building something sacred from the ashes?
Stay. This is about to get really good.
What’s changing (and what’s not)
Still here:
Music as a healing and cultural force
Lyric breakdowns and playlists
Journaling prompts and channeled messages
Spiritual guidance and divine collective messages
The soft, sacred, soul-centered tone you signed up for
What’s expanding:
Cultural commentary on film, TV, books, art
Investigative journalism on overlooked news affecting marginalized communities
Creator spotlights highlighting Black and queer artists, healers, and builders
Essays on decolonizing faith and spiritual identity
A wider lens that holds all the things I care about, not just one slice
In January, I’m creating all the content solo — building the foundation, proving the concept to myself, establishing the rhythm and voice of this living archive.
In February, I’m bringing in collaborators to help expand what’s possible.
And by March 20th (Aries season, new beginnings), we’re launching something even bigger that I’ll tell you about soon.
What I’m asking from you
Stay curious. Stay open. Let this thing unfold.
If a post doesn’t resonate with you one week, that’s okay. Not every piece in an archive is for every person. But the collection as a whole? It’s building something that matters.
Engage when it moves you. Comment. Share. Let me know what’s landing, what you want more of, what questions you have.
Trust the process. I’m building this in real time, with you. It won’t be perfect. But it will be honest, intentional, and deeply felt.
The truth underneath all of this
I’ve been trying to make myself smaller to fit inside a “niche.” I’ve been afraid that expanding would confuse people, lose subscribers, dilute the message.
But here’s what I know now: the most powerful archives are built by people brave enough to say “this matters” even when the world says it doesn’t.
Black culture matters. Queer stories matter. Overlooked news matters. Spiritual practice outside white Christian frameworks matters. The music, the art, the creators doing sacred work in the margins — it all matters.
My goal is to collect it, preserve it, amplify it, analyze it, and celebrate it!
This is the work I was always supposed to be doing. It just took me a minute to give myself permission to do it at full volume.
So here we are.
Welcome to Pieces x Pages: A Living Archive
Let’s build something that lasts.
With intention and gratitude,
Chanel
P.S. — If you're a paid subscriber, nothing about your benefits is changing except that you're getting more. More content pillars, more depth, more variety. The intimate, soul-centered work you signed up for is still the foundation. I'm just building more rooms in this house. If you’re not a paid subscriber yet, join the community today.