Lost thoughts: a playlist for every occasion.

I make playlists to the sound track of my life. During the frat party days of December 2020 the likes of Kanye West accompany the highs; Tom Rosenthal’s melancholy words accompany the fall of 2021.

I chose the word ‘week’ at the start of each playlist. I believe the intention was to be able to look back and see what I was listening too each week. What has actually happened is that they are curated into tracks which echo similar sounds, either that of despair or angst. A tuneless optimism rings true throughout, hoping things would get better. Times of treading water and hoping.

That’s really a lot of what mental illness is, treading water hoping you can save yourself before you get to yourself. You don’t know how, or when salvation will come to you in the dark seas. You’re surrounded but you’re also alone, it’s a feeling like no other. You’re still often submerged in your normal life, the pain opaque to those on the outside. The more you wade on, tiredness slowly creeps in. Everything is an effort but just keep hoping and good things will come.

These days I prefer a playlist to symbolise a period rather than a week, a period is much longer and much more of a journey. There is perhaps room for variation and changes and I like that. I have a tendency to listen to the same song on repeat so it brings some light whimsical relief to the monotony. Keep listening.