One of the things I have somehow given up while pursuing a PhD is music. I don’t know how it happened or even when it did. Some days I miss it more than others…the lyrics (I wanna soak up the sun, he stopped loving her today, the rest is still unwritten), the instruments (especially the steel guitar and the piano solos), and the singers themselves. Mostly I miss the way music can take me from mood to mood three minutes at a time.
Yesterday, I was standing outside of Old Navy talking to a friend about a song I heard on the radio that I hadn’t heard in forever…and actually started to cry. Right there outside of the Old Navy! It is a song that reminds me of my mom in her younger days (in my younger days). I miss those days, I missed her. The song is called 80’s Ladies. It’s not earth shattering by any means, but it’s one of those that I pray doesn’t come on the radio before my dissertation proposal, a job interview, or a conference presentation.
There are other songs, and just music in general, that I miss. Tomorrow I am heading home for Thanksgiving and will spend hours in the car…just me and my music. I’m ecstatic! All the possibilities…It’s times like this when I wish I could listen to 40 songs at once and just take it all in. It sounds ridiculous, I know.
Anyway, I seem to hit this musical wall every semester when I realize how much I do without my music for weeks at a time. I look forward to a week of everything I love to do and less of what I should be doing.