When I was going through my divorce, I created a playlist of songs that I called “Reckoning.” From Lyle Lovett to Carole King to Jackson Browne to Mary Chapin Carpenter (a lot of MCC!), those songs comforted me and kept me company during a very hard time.
I listened to those songs when I ran. I listened with tears in my eyes and on my face while sitting in my car in the middle school parking lot waiting for Sophie to finish dance camp. I listened to the songs when I made dinner, while I worked and when I drove.
A few weeks ago, I decided it was time to delete that playlist. Most of those songs live in other places, on other albums or playlists. They’re not gone, but they served their purpose in that form. I no longer need those songs in that collective way anymore. And I don’t want to associate them with that difficult time.
My friend once told me that, for a sad song to be any good, it has to also contain some hope. Those songs — while not all of them sad — were part of a sad time in my life. But at the same time, they gave me hope that helped me get through.