Things That Make Life Worth Living #10 Kenny Loggins' Music

​To learn more about why I'm writing this new blog series, and my inspiration for writing it, READ THIS.

Things That Make Life Worth Living: Year One 2023 - 2024

So, you know that question everyone asks, “If you were stranded on a desert island with only one collection of music, what would it be?”  I think that’s the wrong way to ask that question.  It’s a lot like asking, “What one author’s work would you choose?”  How can you honestly answer such a thing?  There are so many tremendously talented people in the world.  I think the more accurate way to ask that question is, “If you had to live forever, whose music would you never want to live without?”

Well, I would insist on two… because, truly, as much as you might love one artist’s talent, you really need to have something to feed your cerebral side as well as your emotional side, if you want to remain sane for all of eternity. 

So, I would take along Mozart’s music to feed my brain, and Kenny Loggins’ music to feed my heart.
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If everything I knew was required to end… my friends, family, pets, forests, wildlife… while forcing me to endure until the universe exploded into nothingness, Kenny Loggins’ catalogue of melodies and lyrics would be my enduring soundtrack of existence.  So much of my life is connected to these songs.  It’s impossible to recall the most valuable memories of my life without also thinking about this man’s music and how his voice walked me through all of it.  Although the lyrics may be gender specific, the emotions never are… the messages conveyed in each song, for me, are universal and often apply to more than one moment in time.

Here’s a playlist… because truly, I don’t know a better way to explain this man’s impact on my life.  There’s no way I could go through his entire collection of amazingness and describe how each one has affected me, but here are some of the songs that mean the most to me, in no particular order.

Sweet Reunion connects me to the birth of my son and the feeling that I’d known him long before I met him for the first time.
     Whispered your name in introduction,
     Darling, my heart filled the room,
     And I knew it was you, come back in my life.
 
Danger Zone reminds me of time spent with my high school theatre friends, having more fun than perhaps most thought we should.
     You'll never say hello to you
     Until you get it on the red line overload
     You'll never know what you can do
     Until you get it up as high as you can go
 
I’m Free reminds me of the year I went from being painfully shy to less so, and the freedom I found in that courage.
     I wanna hold you now, I won't hold you down
     You're what I want, listen to me
     Nothing I want's out of my reach (I'm free)
 
House at Pooh Corner (and Return To Pooh Corner) solidifies my deep connection to A.A. Milne’s writing and the notion that the writing work I do will never not need to be done.
     So help me if you can, I've got to get
     Back to the house at Pooh Corner by one
     You'd be surprised, there's so much to be done
     Count all the bees in the hive
     Chase all the clouds from the sky
     Back to the days of Christopher Robin and Pooh
 
The Art of Letting Go is my mantra, of sorts, to remember that I’m not a victim in life, even when where I am is painful and difficult.  Sometimes there is peace in letting go and moving on, even when my brain is in pain and my heart wants to hold on tighter.
     You can't go through it
     Without going through it
     'Til it goes through you
     'Til you know the truth
 
The Unimaginable Life reminds me that whatever I do in life, wherever I go, whoever I spend time with, every experience will touch my heart in unimaginable ways, so I need to remain open to that possibility.
     Something in the way that you say hello
     Even to the sound of your heart beat
     All seems so familiar to me
     My soul-memory of love
     Leading me homeward
 
Yet, if I had to choose a single favorite song to listen to on permanent repeat for the rest of my life, forsaking all others, forever, this would be the one:

Love Will Follow gives me permission to fall so hard, so strong, and so forever in love with the people I cherish that it will never be wrong.  It’s my personal anthem that love, whether reciprocated or unrequited, is more valuable than anything else I will ever know; and giving it with everything I have will always be a gift I give myself and never a regret.
     Use your wings and fly away
     And come with me today
     Your heart will lead the way
     And love will follow