I know this sounds bizarre but….
Oh, if only I had a dollar for every time a friend of mine heard me say that.
If I want to gauge the near future, it turns out that all I have to do is put together a mixtape for someone, based on whatever songs really appeal to me at the moment. This is especially helpful in my romantic life, it seems, because why else do you give someone else a CD of odd love songs if not to share with that someone special? (Yes, I know that there are other reasons, just not usually for me.) Sure enough, if I make a playlist for someone, within the month, I’ll have song lyrics coming true left and right. Understand though: I don’t intentionally create a playlist of what I WANT to come true but rather, what’s already on its way.
No, not kidding. I discovered this little oddity of prophecy when I made a CD for someone at a very happy time in our relationship…and the entire playlist was about parting company. I thought it was odd at the time I made it, that I would be so drawn to those songs. Nothing in our interactions warned me of our impending doom like that playlist did!
Afterward, I dug out old playlists I’d made and found that the songs that were most to my liking at the time were great prognostications for the next month’s emotional status. I still make new playlists by the way, not as intentions of where I hope to be in a month but honestly chosen songs based on what really appeals to me at the moment, even if it’s The Go-Go’s “Head over Heels” or Edie Brickell’s “What I Am” or something new and barely heard of at the time, like FROZEN’S “Let It Go.” (Yes, there was a time when hardly anyone knew that song.)
Just for grins, here’s partial playlist that made me realize how this works for me, even though I was madly happy at the time I put it together:
“All You Do Is Talk, ” Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Sadly, I remain in need
Of all the things you say, believe, and speak
All you do is talk.
“The Scientist” — Holly Henry
Nobody said it was easy,
It’s such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy,
No one ever said it would be this hard.
Oh take me back
Stop just reading about change and start doing something about it with 23 road-tested tips for a life you actually want.
Visit the Book Page →