A genuine question for you, dear reader, have you been reading the daily music-based posts? The ones with a track and artist as the title, you do realise it’s not just me reviewing the track itself? In fact it’s almost NEVER a review of the track, it’s an exploration of me.
I’m asking because I’m finding writing them hugely cathartic and wondered if that came across.
In the past I’ve turned to various prompts and methods to cajole thoughts from the deeper recesses of my brain, with the School of Life Know Yourself cards being particularly useful, and I’m finding the same effect is happening with the daily prompt at Crucial Tracks.
Sure, not all of them are leading to any deep life observations, but they are all, without fail, making me pause and think. It’s even become an interesting topic for Becca and I of a morning, with some very similar answers on occasion (which just makes me love her more!).
Music has been a part of my life since I was born. Both my parents were musical, played instruments, sang in choirs, performed on stages, with my Dad doing so throughout his life and into retirement. I have a framed photo of my Dad onstage, and the memories of attending many a Gilbert & Sullivan production remain fond ones.
So it’s no wonder that with that background, the act of considering music more deeply is unlocking all sorts of memories and realisations.
It also reflects a pattern over the past six months or so on this blog, with not only a massive uptick in the quantity of posts here but, I think, the quality as well. I am taking more time to consider what I write and a lot of that is because of Jack, because of the knowledge that he may read some of these posts and maybe, hopefully, know me better than he does.
When my Mum died, and I was clearing out her flat, I came across several old diaries. She wasn’t consistent, and was mostly concise but there are glimpses of the woman she was, the trials and tribulations she endured, and I’m enjoying picking through them. I also found letters that my Dad wrote to my Mum, love letters that are intimate, full of emotion, longing, and with the occasional mention of somethings I didn’t really need to read about!
My Dad wasn’t an ‘I love you’ kinda guy. I know he loved me, but he rarely said the words. That, in turn, has made me almost double down on it with Jack and, even when I was away in Madrid recently, I still said the words out loud each day. My own little mantra.
I guess my point (if there has to be one) it that there is so much we don’t know about people, and yet so much of me is here on this blog. My real realisation since discovering Crucial Tracks is that music can unlock so much more of us than we realise, and I am thoroughly enjoying everything the daily prompts have brought me.
I hope you are too.
What are your thoughts?