2ND CHILDHOOD

It all started while digging in the crates at my local record store. I was a broke college student who spent most of my hard-earned money on music and this day was no different. Each trip to the record store was a new experience for me. When I walked in I had no idea what I’d be walking out with and the time spent sifting through tapes, records and CD’s was therapy to me. I had enough money in my pocket to buy a used CD for $8.99 so I wouldn’t stop digging until I was sure that I had found the right album that I needed for my collection. It was blind faith to spend money on an album that I hadn’t heard before but that’s how it was back then. You had to go off the strength of the single you heard, an article you read in a music magazine, the record label behind the release, the guest features on the album and the cover art. That sunny afternoon I spent hours crawling my fingertips from A-Z until I had made my final decision on how I’d spend my money that day. I walked right up to the cashier and gave her all of the money in my pocket and walked out of the store with my new piece of music.

I quickly ripped off the plastic packaging of that used CD and looked at the shiny silver compact disc for the first time. I sat on the curb outside of the record store and unzipped my ragged backpack so I could pull out my Sony Discman. I took out the CD previously in my music player and stored it in an empty sleeve in my Case Logic book of discs. As I grabbed the disc just purchased, I knew I had to be very meticulous when pressing the CD into my discman. Any scratches on the underside of the disc could be troublesome as a scratched CD meant a CD that skipped. Once I closed the discman, I put my big over-the-ear headphones on and pressed play on song 1 of the album. And then I started my skate home…

I was never a good skater in terms of ollies and kickflips but that didn’t stop me from always cruising around with my board. Skating gave me a sense of calm and music in my headphones put me at peace so the combination of the two gave me a vacation from the constant thoughts running through my head. Listening to music while coasting on my skater gave me a feeling that was unparalleled in life so I chased that bliss whenever I could. It helped me reminisce to back to in the day as a kid without a care in the world other than my crew. 

As I skated on the sidewalk that afternoon I felt time quickly stop and the world around me became out of focus. As the beat started on the 8th song of the album I stopped skating. I had to head over to a park bench so I could sit, nod my head to the drums and intently focus on the music coming through my headphones. This particular song spoke to me that day and I knew that this was a moment that I would never forget. I flipped my backpack around right in front of me and grabbed the jewel case out of small pocket so I could open it up with my hands and pull out the music liner notes inside. I turned the pages in the mini album booklet until I got to the info for song # 8 that was playing on repeat in my eardrums. Then I saw the name of the song for the very first time and its words came off of the paper at me. I loved the typography on those 2 words but it wasn’t just that. When I read those 2 words, their meaning struck a chord with me. On that day, this song literally grabbed my full attention and gave me a glimpse into my destiny.