the going — lowndes commander

In light of all the miles traveled last February, I created a playlist for the going away and the coming home, one of my little curated creations I am the most proud of, that still rings out of my speakers from time to time.

With that, this idea's been brewing for weeks: another selection of songs for the avid traveler. In a sense, that's what we all are: car, train, boat, plane, or one foot in front of the other, all of us are heading somewhere: to take the third dreaded test this week, back to the grocery store because you forgot one thing on your list, to surprise your family for dinner, to the airport for that long-awaited trip. And I/we can get so caught up in the place of arrival. But the time we spend in between should not be time wasted- it is valuable! The traffic may be bumper to bumper, and you may have six errands left to go, but shouldn't there be joy in the midst of the going?

These songs are to instigate the joy, to replace hurry and worry with contentment and gratitude, and to encourage more hours of aimless driving. Yes, this playlist is absolutely for road trips toward adventure, but more so, it is for the ordinary 30 minute commute, the mile long evening bike-ride, and to fill fleeting moments to the brim with meaning.

This playlist is divided in two:

Section One: Tracks 1-41

Section Two: Tracks 42-79 (+ 'The Best Is yet to Come' - Us & Our Daughters)

I'd planned on listing out specific scenarios, weather, feelings for when you should listen to each section, but I just couldn't. I couldn't because these songs won't be for you what they are to me. I hope they will be something though.

Here's what I do know: these songs are for sunshine and grey clouds, for interstates and stoplights, for stand-still traffic. They are for excitement and fear, for grief and lightheartedness. They are for the moments you want to freeze and replay again and again. They are for the mundane minutes spent in transit from A to B, and they are for making sure your moments matter.

May these sounds pull you to be present even in the smallest flashes of time.

Listen, enjoy, and share!

-L