iPod Woes...

Several weeks ago, several musicless weeks ago, my iPod became a vegetable. The buttons died. No more play. No more shuffle. No more best friend. I dealt with the loss the way most deal with losses. Yeah, I recognized the stages of grief. First, I couldn't believe it. Classic denial stage. I pressed the buttons over and over. I tried resetting. I tried kissing it. I tried the healing powers of the phoenix's tears (I learned that useless trick from Harry Potter...I also learned not to believe everything you see on TV). Nothing. I isolated myself from the ones I loved, I cut ties from the people who wanted to help, I hated myself for doing that, but I was slipping into the anger stage. I was angry at them for letting my iPod die. I was angry at them for not immediately buying me a new one. I was angry that my own iPod would do that to me. I was angry at Apple for letting it happen. And, most of all, I was angry at myself for listening to it while in the shower. Then I asked God to change it back. I would change, I would be a better person, anything for a few functional buttons! Typical bargaining stage. This quickly spiraled into a deepset depression. After a while, an almost comforting numbness set in, and despite crying myself to sleep every night, I felt better. I began to then accept my loss. I came to terms with it, and I even saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Things would get better. I am strong. I will recover. And I will move on.

As chance would have it, a fuse blew in my car. A very, very important fuse. A fuse that controlled the stereo. Oh, I tried replacing the fuse, it just blew again. I tried reasoning with the fuse, but there was nothing I, or anyone else, could do. There was a short. What you have to understand is that I have a long commute to work, I drive a lot. I enjoy driving, but suddenly driving became a silent chore. No singing, no music, no joy! What did all of this mean? Why was music being taken out of my life? Was this a conspiracy? Was there a big plan out there for me? Was the universe trying to teach me quiet reflection? Does the universe care about me? Does my life matter?! Alas, I was going crazy because of all the silence. I took my car to the shop where I was informed that my stereo was "fried". "Oh dear," I muttered as I lowered my face into my hands. The mechanic then handed me a tissue to dry my tears.

I had no choice but to shell out a couple hundred dollars for a new stereo. However, something magical happened. The stereo I purchased connected directly to my iPod. At first I thought this was the cosmos' way of rubbing it in my face that I was a musicless fool! But, then, a cartoon lightbulb flashed above my head. "Aha!" I exclaimed, jumping out of my seat. I could plug in my iPod and use the stereo buttons to control the music! It worked! I couldn't believe it, but it worked! I cried. Though the tears felt familiar running down my face, there was something new about the feeling accompanying them. I was crying tears of joy! Tears of joy are special tears. When they roll off your cheeks they don't fall to the floor like the tears of sadness, but rather they sprout little teardrop wings and fly away giggling to themselves.

As I watched all my tears fly away, I began to think of all the new playlists I can and will create. I thought of driving to music. I thought of the first flowers to bloom in the spring. I thought of khaki shorts and waterfalls. I thought of fields of fireflies and prancing through them. I thought of smiling. Then, I felt the corners of my lips slowly turn upward.