Rediscovering an old joy.
A couple of weeks ago, I was driving around the Tahoe area in an open-air Jeep when I discovered the craziest feature built right into the dash. A time machine. Disguised as a radio.
Let me explain.
Ever since hands-free technology made it safer to talk on my phone while driving, I have reserved all my commuting time for catching up on calls. I found this schedule-expanding feature so liberating. I could conduct business, catch up with colleagues, and earn back the time lost in the car. It felt like a gift. And I never even noticed that a more liberating source of joy had been sucked from my head space—music.
Back to Tahoe.
The song was “Hurts So Good,” written and performed by another kid from small-town Indiana—John Mellencamp. Actually, he went by John Cougar back in the early ‘80s. It only took a few chords of the crunching guitar riff to send me back in time. I was a free spirit, driving with the top down and the wind in my face, singing along with the radio turned up loud.
And here’s the magic.
It just took some unstructured time, and the gift of a song, to bring it all back: that feeling of being 10 feet tall and bulletproof; the thrills and heartaches that come with youth; the not knowing what lies ahead. I was right there in the moment. It hurt so good.