Have You Made Your Desert Island Songlist?
Ten songs to listen to when you get stranded…
I am coming up on the one-year anniversary of this platform. I am proud of the project and excited to continue growing.
Many of the writers I have met over the past year have a weird mix of narcissistic humbleness about them. I too share that mix of conflicting emotions.
Let’s be honest, this is quite the vanity project, right? I get that. And I roped all of you in somehow. That’s the humble part. Why the hell are you reading all this stuff I write?
A funny things happens when I write, though. I lose myself in my readers lives. The words that come out of my head sometimes are not the words that I thought were in my head.
The way I write stories about myself makes me believe that my readers are right there with me. I met a friend recently that sparked my forever curiosity about the subject of permanency.
I bring you along on the crazy adventures of my life fully realizing that some of you have lived in the same life all your life long.
The same house. The same school. The same job. Just writing the word same that many times caused a flutter of anxiety in me.
I was going to post some links to my prior posts, but here I will ask that you poke around the platform and see what strikes your fancy.
That feeling of sameness in ones life is so completely foreign to me it literally causes me to feel anxiety. I just cannot imagine living my whole entire life in one town, let alone one house.
Now, I am not putting it down. So many of my friends are retiring now. That works for a lot of people. But for this gypsy soul, I gotta ramble on.
This platform feels like an natural extension of that. My rambles allow me to connect with you on a personal level. I hope my writing makes an impact in your life.
Whether it’s a smile or a chuckle. Or maybe a wistful thought of a bygone memory. Perhaps you always wondered what that was like. Or I totally and thoroughly pissed you off.
All of those make me happy. As a chef, seeing empty plates returning to the kitchen is a good thing. Seeing my subscriber list grow, and my paid subscriber list grow, is immensely rewarding.
You can add to that feeling of satisfaction now. If I have touched a nerve or sparked a feeling, ask yourself this question:
How much is that feeling worth to me?
You know, that’s what we do all day. I want a drink. How much am I willing to pay for that drink?
What is the comparative value between the money in your pocket and the anticipated feeling of quenching your thirst?
I am asking you directly:
How much is the feeling you get reading my words worth to you?
If you were deciding on an action that would affect your emotions in a positive manner, what would you consider?
The price. The anticipated feeling. The expectation of satisfaction. Then, if all of those things felt good, you’d pull the wallet out, dust it off, blow away the moths, and pull a few bills out.
I am asking you to pull a few bills out. Five dollars a month for all of these feel-good feelings. Less than a Starbuck’s.
In return, I created a fun post to share with all of you. My tech journey continues, I just got on Spotify (don’t laugh - shit takes time, man!).
We all have this secret desire to be stranded on a desert island. Not forever, maybe just til the pandemic ends, right?
Imagine it without music. That would be sheer hell. So, in preparation for the end of the world, I made my first official Desert Island Song List.
I would love to hear from my readers about your list. I will revisit this list as my life evolves, and see how it changes.
For now, please enjoy.
Ric
This concept has been around long before Tom Hanks and Wilson spent some time together on a picturesque remote island. Digital music makes it possible to actually make this list a reality and have it on your person when the world blows up.
The current state of the pre-apocalyptic world makes it a necessity for disaster planning. Right up there with preparing your emergency supplies of food, booze and weed.
I bought a new pair of headphones last week. Really taking me back to my pre-teen days of listening to my uncles vinyl records on the turntable of my grandparents nine-foot-long stereo console.
My uncle was in his twenties at that point, and in college. His music collection fell into the rock/prog rock genre of the day. This was the mid and late 1970s.
I remember his Moody Blues Days of Future Passed. This was before I ever smoked pot, but the feeling was totally amazing. Pumping thru those old curly-corded headphones that weighed about 5 pounds.
Laying on the floor with your feet on the couch was the only way to enjoy this experience. Full blast. It was a real escape for me in those days.
A funny thing happened during this time. I started checking out my grandparents record collection. Here was some music I had never even been exposed to.
Big Band. Jazz. Classical. Swing. I started listening to some music that I couldn’t believe.
Look for more posts on music in the future.
The very nature of a Desert Island Song List is ephemeral. I wrote about my psychological training, thanks to Dr. Spencer Reid of the BAU, in this piece.
This list is not static, and I may update it every year or so. It seems like when I remember my lists of the past, I don’t think this was it.
But I like that. It is a movement. Doesn’t matter if it is forward or backward in this case. Music removes friction, and makes movement easier.
Eliminate friction. Keep moving.
Ric