For as long as I can remember, music has played a huge role in preserving my memories. From the time when I would dance around the living room while listening to Don McLean’s American Pie to the days I spent driving around my rainy home-town listening to Amber Run.
Hearing some songs can take me back to a particular place and others remind me of a particular person. Not all the memories are happy ones but they are an important part of my life none-the-less.
When I finally realized the power that music played in my memories— preserving them and creating them— I began making playlists for each season and it is the best thing I have ever done.
Look, music is a huge part of my life, so I am kind of obsessed with my Spotify account. I mean, you can customize the pictures for each of your playlists, name and rename them, organize the order of the songs…what more could I ask for??
But this isn’t a plug for Spotify, I’m just here to tell you that creating a list of songs for certain periods in your life is transformative.
While this technique helps with memory recall, it can also help you understand where your head was at when you made that playlist. Listening back to old collections of my favorite songs really spoke volumes to what I was going through at the time. I am a big fan of self-reflection and this route of reflection is one of my favorites.
There are a million quotes about the power of music, claiming that it transports the listener, connects the world, etc. While these claims are pretty grand, I don’t think they should be discounted. Creating a music timeline of your life allows you turn back to certain times, like flipping through a book.
As college students, we go through a lot of transitions. Some students face homesickness, some miss their old friendships, and almost all of us are “searching for ourselves.” So why not employ this memory device to help ease the discomfort of some of these feelings?
Just imagine you are missing home; you click back to your summer playlist, the songs immediately refreshing your mind with views of the beach and the smell of a bonfire, your friends gathered around it, laughing loudly.
You might doubt that this works, but don’t knock it ‘till you try it. The next time you start a new playlist, title it “spring 2019” or “May 2019” and add songs throughout the season/month as you listen to it. A couple months later, when you come back to it, see what happens.