Wasting time, for the Best of Reasons...

So... in my Anatomy and Physiology class this past few days we've been discussing how scents (pleasant and unpleasant) can trigger emotions by bringing back memories of places or people or events. Fascinating stuff! Some of my classmates have some really interesting stories of good and bad memories triggered by certain smells, and I've really enjoyed the conversation. But, because I'm me, that wasn't enough and I decided to look a little deeper into the phenomenon.

I got to thinking about music and how it has the power to bring me back to a moment in time. Tricia Yearwood sang, years ago, about how "the song remembers when", and she is so right. There is absolutely music that can, in an instant, put me in a bad place. But there are also songs that remind me of times in my life when I was strong and independent (because I had to be, not by choice), and I'd sing in the car while waving my hand around in that nutty Mariah Carey "I have soul" salute, and I didn't care who saw or how embarrassed my children were... and there is music that I'd heard my whole life, over and over and over, that never made a blip on my radar until I met my husband who listened to music of a different era than I did, and got me to listen to those "moldy oldies" with fresh ears... ("September", for example... awesome song! Means a lot more to me since T came along...)

Powerful stuff.

I should be a basket case right now, because I have only ten days to compose an original ten-page paper on the skin and risk factors for skin cancer (yawn!!!), which I have yet to actually start, plus edit and revise my other paper on Asperger's Syndrome, and today would have been a great day to make a dent in the workload. Have I done anything even remotely academic today? Um, no... and I'll pay for it later.

But I've spent the last few hours just sitting here with my ear buds in, listening to my freshly purchased iTunes music cranked up way, way too loud and revisiting 2003 with my old friends, 3rd Eye Blind, and loving every second of it. I think this was just what I needed to do tonight: Reflect on the past and marvel at far I've come since that time.

How I love my life...