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Community Corner

Great Escape: Toss Out The Wiggles, Tune Into Kid Unfriendly Music for Solo Drives

Remember the music that made you happy? The next time you're out for a solo drive, dig up those old CDs for an escape back to your youth.

My favorite “me time” is the time I spend driving alone with the radio blaring. For those brief moments, I’m uncensored. Or, rather, my music is uncensored.

My solo travels are glimpses back into my youth. When I’m sans car seats and kids, I throw out Fresh, 102.5 and aim for The Point, 105.7. I break out my collection of CDs. Some have cover art I would never allow my children to see, but all contain the keys to my teens and 20s. When those archaic discs hit the stereo, I return, albeit briefly, back to the days when I could be frivolous, play my music loudly and get lost in myself.

In the words of Plato, music “gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination…”. Each of us has our own soundtrack. The Gin Blossoms' New Miserable Experience and any song by Toad the Wet Sprocket makes me remember long summer nights working at Six Flags and flirting madly with a cute older coworker, who eventually became my husband. The Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, with a topless señorita decking the album cover, conjures up memories of being 25 and in the midst of a quarter-life crisis. And Nirvana always takes me back to being a misunderstood and angst-ridden teen, full of dreams, but so naïve. Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York album is still one of my favorite forms of psychotherapy. So is R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People because “Everybody Hurts.”And despite being a mom, those solo car rides will always, always inspire me to blast Nine Inch Nails’ "Closer" and every other offensive song on Downward Spiral.

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Sometimes the greatest escape is the journey back to where you began. Remembering who you were makes you appreciate who you are now.

So, what’s on your playlist?

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