Lost Coastlines

Here's the scene: Major construction midday in Baltimore. No warning so everyone ends up trapped in the mess. Cars being "routed" in seemingly random ways that end up converging in bottlenecks. Tempers flaring and horns blaring, leading to a rise in collective blood pressure.

Just as I'm about to join the stress parade, I hear the song "Lost Coastlines" by Okkervil River. It doesn't matter if you like this song--if you don't, pick one of your favorite songs. In what can only be described as a transformation, I start to listen to the music, the lyrics, the rhythms, the interplay of instruments and voice...it's magical. While the traffic remains, the clutter and noise in my mind disappears. The only thing that matters is that I have an opportunity to listen to this song instead of rushing back to my office desk. And I listen. And I start moving to its beat. And I try to sing lyrics I don't even know. I wait patiently as a city bus moves in front of me, even as other drivers behind me lay down on their horns. At this moment, everyone else seems runs through a maze losing themselves while I journey into a labyrinth finding myself.

"And every night finds us rocking and rolling on waves wild and wide, well we have lost our way, nobody`s gonna say it outright."