Random Thought

This morning I listened to a CD I haven't listened to in a long time, one I had sort of forgotten about until a few days ago. It was a constant in my CD player several years ago, and really defines a period in my life. When I put it on this morning, the lyrics and notes immediately came back, along with many of the emotions and memories that I associate with that time. On listening this morning, though, I felt like everything was viewed through a lens of nostalgia; time has blunted most of the sharp edges, and my interpretation of the words and the situations are very different than they were several years ago. The music itself is the same, but the listener and the interpretations are completely altered.

It occurred to me that it's similar to what happens when you go back and read a book that you haven't read in many years. Take, for example, a book you were forced to read in high school and hated, but when you go back 15 years later and read that same book, you can see why it's so beloved (Pride and Prejudice, should you be wondering).  The words haven't changed at all over time, just the reader.  Yet it is a completely different book, simply based on the experiences you have had since you last read the book.  Now, I'm not sure I'm up to a third reading of Pride and Prejudice anytime soon, but it makes me wonder how it might read in another 20 years, and what kind of spin my brain will put on it then, what sorts of experiences will get tangled up in the very same words.  Same for the music - what will some of the CDs that have disappeared to the recesses of my music collection sound like in another 20 years - will they be as relevant?  Or will they have lost their shine, the experiences of life wearing the gleam to dull?

I don't really have a point to this, I just found the comparison interesting for some inane reason.