☕ Coffee and Quiet with Derek Wolf
This morning, Elton John's Madman Across the Water was playing in my mind. I bought that album years ago and played it so many times I knew every song by heart. Singing those songs felt like standing on stage with Elton, like being a backup singer.
Note: I'm listening to Elton right now as I write this.
From experience, you also can't leave a record sitting on the dashboard of the car with the album still inside the jacket. Before long the record starts to warp.
Back then, putting on an album was an event. You slid the record out of the sleeve, lowered the needle, and listened. Most of us didn't skip from song to song. We stayed with the whole album because that's how it was meant to be heard.
Today you can pull up that same album on YouTube anytime you want.
Maybe you've found that a minute or two of a song is usually enough. Your brain lights up and remembers the times, the places, and the people connected to it. Suddenly you're somewhere you haven't been in years.
Yesterday at a buffet, the same thing happened. A spoonful of this, a spoonful of that. Because a taste was enough.
It wasn't about filling up. It was about remembering.
One spoonful instead of a full serving.
One familiar smell that takes you back years.
One song instead of the whole album.
One conversation instead of spending the whole afternoon together. Like when you call someone and say, "I just wanted to hear your voice."
Maybe that's why we sample so many things in life. Not because we want more, but because a small piece is often enough to reconnect us with everything that came before.
Sometimes we're not looking for the whole experience.
Sometimes we're just looking for enough to wake up everything attached to it.
Hugzzs,
🌺 Derek Wolf
I'll talk to you in the emails.
☕ Before You Go...
Coffee and Quiet is where we share a cup of coffee together. When you're ready to settle in for a longer story, come visit me at DerekWolf.com. You'll find original audio stories waiting for you.