So this morning I was on my way out for a run when I realized I needed something to distract me.
Because it was, even in the dark early dawn, 83 DEGREES.
I was not the only one unhappy with that fact, really.
The dog, the cats, the potted plants all wilted.
But I was the only one going for a run.
So.
Distraction was my goal.
But.
My iPod was dead. Go figure.
So I grabbed my daughter’s off the kitchen counter and scooted out the door.
Before long I was grooving around the trail to Buddy Holly, Fountains of Wayne, Taylor Swift, Free to Be You and Me.
And honestly, it was more than distracting.
It was funny and revealing and sweet, and I felt a little like I was running with my Small One.
I ran with a friend’s iPod once and had a similar experience, listening to her New Orleans’ blues, Jewish liturgical music, and even a cut of my friend in her days fronting a rock band.
She was in my head as I ran, and I was in her head.
It was really a most amazing thing.
This morning, running with my daughter that way, it was a comfort.
But I’m thinking now that it’s also a lesson, a reminder, that as a writer and as a person I should get outside of myself sometimes.
There’s so much to know about so many people.
Namaste.
tanita says…
Wow — it’s hot in Austin!
But what a nifty story — truly a piece of your daughter’s personality resides in her musical choices.
Sometimes I find myself stretching to try new writing styles and feeling like, “Hey! It’s ME writing this!” and I think that getting outside of myself and what I think is my skillset is very valuable indeed. And maybe it can be as simple as listening to a stranger’s tunes, and grooving to an old friend’s beat to help me find where my “I” and someone else’s can intersect.
It’s funny what a mix people (all people, I think) have on their iPods, isn’t it? M, S & I have songs in common, but a lot of divergence. S has a bunch of “house” music and Indian music and singer/songwriters I barely know; M has a bit more country and a bunch of interesting indies. Even within their own iPods, they are myriads within themselves.