It’s commonly understood that certain smells are some of the strongest triggers for memories, primarily due to the fact that the part of your brain that processes memories is right next to the part of your brain that processes smells. (Yeah, I took anatomy and physiology, you could say I’m a bit of an expert.)
Taste also can have that magical ability to teleport you to years gone past. One bite of that fresh Honeycrisp and you’re back in your neighbor’s orchard, 12 years old and blissfully unaware of taxes and car insurance.
The one that really gets me is the power of a song. Or multiple songs. Songs that, although they have no right being placed next to each other, have somehow been thrown together into a haphazardly thrown together playlist by someone who apparently doesn’t fear death.
For the past year and a half, I’ve created a new playlist for each month, and I’ve placed whatever songs I’ve really been feeling that month into that playlist.
Most people create playlists of songs that have a central theme, similar sound, evoke a certain emotion, or are for some unified-ish purpose.
These monthly playlists are created with zero forethought or intentionality in mind. They’re just a reflection of whatever songs were resonating with me at a given point in time—regardless of whether or not they fit with the other songs.
However, I’ve discovered that these playlists have done a terrifying job of crystallizing emotions and memories from months and months ago that I can almost guarantee I’d not be able to remember as clearly otherwise.
The weird thing about emotions is that they’re so intense and real when they’re happening, but then you move on and out of that emotional spot and it all seems so blurry. Maybe it’s just me, but I can try to conjure up despair when I’m not feeling despair, and it just feels far-away and silly. And I can try to make myself feel that kind of joy that is exclusively tied to driving with the windows down at golden hour while sipping on a lavender cold press, but it’s just not the same.
However, listening to the songs that were resonating me during the times of my life where those emotions were strongly present gives me a sharper taste than I could ever get just from trying to remember October of 2018.
Creating a playlist for each month is the easiest way to write your own autobiography without having to write, or actively remember, anything.
It’s also interesting to see that even without intentional curation, some months really do have a theme. Some months even have a story arc within the song choices. And some months are just a full-on roadtrip playlist in disguise because apparently you were in the car for 2/3 of that month.
I don’t know what I’m going to do with half of this information that I’ll have to remember forever. I don’t know if I’ll care, when I’m 90, that Novembers feel like ABBA because in November 2018 I watched Mamma Mia 2 with my siblings and then they all loved it so much that we were all a bunch of pigs and watched Mamma Mia 1 directly afterwards.
But I do know that it’s there. And I didn’t have to journal every day to remember that, or the 17 various events that happened directly after that mini movie marathon.
I honestly think I’ve written this blog post before and I’m just now realizing it. That’s embarrassing. It’s probably because I didn’t have a playlist associated with it.
Anyway, all that I’m trying to say is that you should 100% create a playlist for every month and only put the songs you’re really feeling in it. Don’t dilute it with a bunch of songs you liked last month, or songs you like in general. Just the songs that you’d manually put on repeat if some strange girl from the internet didn’t tell you to put it in a playlist instead.
Because a year and a half from now, you’ll be happy that it was that playlist that got all those repeat plays, and not just those songs individually, because now you can push play on that playlist and be instantly transported back to the feelings associated with whatever you were listening to that time you decided to cross the Kalahari desert with nothing but a toothbrush and a packet of lemons and managed to still make it back before Ramadan.
So there. Start documenting your life in your own mind’s eye without even trying. Create monthly playlists and thank me when you’re 90.
What if my… blog post was… sponsored by… Spotify? Haha, just kidding…
Unless..?
@Spotify please sponsor me