music

I was raised on a variety of different genres of music. Blues, R&B, Alternative Rock, Oldies, Reggae, Pop, Rock, and so much more. It's always kind of "spoken" to me. Music has a way of influencing my moods in a way that not much else can. Other than maybe sitting by the ocean and watching the waves. I often forget the effect music has on me, but tonight it came back full force. I've spent the last hour updating my iTunes library, adding music to my phone, and finding new songs to add to my playlist.

When my brother and I were younger, my dad would drive us to Petaluma to visit my grandparents. I remember it being a looooooong drive, with a lot of open fields, the smell of cow manure, a huge boulder that looked like an elephant, and this one stretch of road lined with trees. I remember listening to Bob Marley on tape on those drives. Now whenever I hear Bob Marley, I remember those drives and all of us singing along in the car.

My Friday night might not be very exciting, but this small task of adding music to my playlist, and listening to CD's from junior high and high school are making me smile. These moments where I can laugh at the memories these songs have created for me - my whole 8th grade class singing at a dance, singing at summer camp in front of the entire school with three of my friends, screaming out of the windows of the car on a friday night in high school after eating ice cream with friends - they help me remember that my life hasn't been bad. 

I hope that I find more songs along the way to keep reminding me of this. Without music to remind me, I'd likely forget a lot of happy moments.