i really need to take more chances

i have a few cds listed on facebook marketplace. yesterday a guy named nicholas bought 10. as he was leaving, i mentioned that i’d be listing more in the coming days.

he asked if he could check them out already and so i brought them out to him. as he was flipping through the cds, he would set aside a few and say something like, “never heard of them but i like the cover”.

it reminded me of how i used to buy cds or records.

one of my favourite things growing up was spending time in the small record store in my town. i would flip through records and buy mostly based on the cover. if the cover spoke to me, the music would hopefully, too.

i don’t remember whether i was allowed to listen to the records before buying, but even if i was, i don’t think i would have wanted to. buying something completely new and unknown was part of discovering new music. it was part of the process, part of a sacred ritual.

did you end up with clunkers? you bet.

but more often than not you’d walk away with something exciting, something that wasn’t recommended to you but that you had discovered all on your own.

and then one day the internet came along and everything changed.

in a world full of wikipedia pages, yelp reviews and social media influencers, there is little room for discovery. there is no room for wonder.

instead of walking into that new coffee shop you’re curious about, you google it. you read the reviews and, if positive, you’ll maybe check it out in person.

that new movie? the poster looks promising but why chance it when you can read the reviews first and then decide?

and records? if you even buy physical media anymore, there is a good chance you will have streamed it prior to purchase.

this is not to say that the internet and our connectedness to all things are bad but i think it’s important that we use it selectively.

dropping two grand on a new smartphone, for instance? absolutely research that. a new car? also yes, don’t buy it just because you like the colour.

but most other things?

i think maybe i need to learn to follow my intuition more often. like i used to.

why not just take a chance on that new restaurant? or blindly buy a book because the cover looked interesting? or do anything, really, just because it spoke to me?

worst case, i lose a few bucks on a boring book or a little time trying that new thing. but a far more likely outcome is that i’ll discover something new that will enrich my life. and with a little luck, it’ll become part of me and my story.