Cassette Tapes

 

        Last weekend I gave in to C's pleas to down size my music collection. I had bought a lot of CDs over  the years and most of them were in a plastic bin in the storeroom. I understand that we need to get rid of things we no longer want or need and have no trouble getting rid of some things. Books and CDs are much harder for me to get rid of. My fear is that I'll get rid of something that I'll want later and it's actually happened to me a few times. There are two books that I got rid for the I wished I'd kept. I was able to find one of them at a used book store. The other I haven't been able to find. 

        The first thing I did was go though all the CDs that are in the entertainment center with the stereo. There were a several that I knew I no longer wanted. Then I went to get the big bin downstairs. I was afraid that it was going to be hard to decide what to keep. I had decided that all Frank Sinatra, Bobby Caldwell, Andrea Bocelli and Eros Ramazzotti CDs would be kept. I wanted to keep any CDs by The Three Tenors. I went through the rest of them and asked myself, "Does this spark joy?" (Thank you, Marie Kondo) Maybe it isn't the best question to ask when downsizing things with the potential to have sentimental value, but it was a start.

        I was amazed by what was in the give away pile. There was a small box, a bag and another box of things to go to Goodwill. I also went thought the CDs my dad gave me when he moved. Most of those were in the donate pile. I kept a few of his classical things and C wanted to keep a compilation of songs from Broadway shows. I have to admit, it's nice to know that my entire collection will be in one spot and not scattered about.

        Mixed in with the CDs were cassette tapes. Some of these cassettes were bought and a few of those went in the Goodwill bag. Most of them were ones I recorded off the radio for myself. Obviously if I wanted to get rid of them, they would have to be thrown away. 

        I found one that was labelled "Songfest", it was one of three tapes that my dad helped me to record. They were the ones I tended to listen to the most when I was younger.  The one I found was Songfest 2. My current stereo has a tape deck on it so I knew I would listen to it soon. I put all the tapes I planned to keep back into the entertainment center.

        Last night I took out Songfest 2 and put it in the deck. The music came on and it was a song called "Love Aint Never Hurt Nobody". It was like seeing an old friend after a long time. I could have sat up late into the night listening, but it was bedtime. I shut the stereo down and went to bed.

        The next morning I got up. After studying my Scriptures, praying and meditating, I had an idea. I could turn on the tape while doing my workout. I set up my Ipad with the workout I wanted to do and then turned the sound off. Then I turned on my tape. I had a lot of fun working out to my tape. 

        One of the sings on the tape was "The Happy Song" by Frank Mills. It's a bouncy little tune that I'm sure cheered me up when I was a kid. I must admit I was grateful to know that my taste in music was pretty good although a bit eclectic. 

        I'm looking forward to exploring my tape collection to see what else I will find.