Playlists
(Photo by Tim Palen '25)
I have been creating playlists for most of my life. As a kid, I was recording music off the radio and making mix tapes. By the time I was in high school, I was making mixed CDs and handing it out to friends and listening to them in my car. I am always working on a new playlist and these have been a way for me to track time and memories.
Autumn 2025
Timelines in 2025
This has been a period of healing. After the last two playlists which helped me connect with my younger self, these songs track the integration process and where I currently find myself.
Spring 2025
Enter: The 90s
Come with me as I take you on a journey through the 90s. Let's travel through time and see what emotions and feelings pop up for us.
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It had been decades since I listened to some of these songs, as they reminded me too much of a time that I much rather forget. But given enough distance, I now choose to face these feelings head-on.
Spring 2025
18 Again
During late 2024 to mid 2025, I felt called to revisit some of the music from my youth. For me, these songs are relics of time; they have memories and emotions embedded in them. It is hard not to listen to these songs now from this perspective and be confronted with a feeling of depressive existentialism that has always been just beneath the surface.
Winter 2025
Development
This playlist was developed in stages during the first half of 2024. Songs came to me as I went through events, and this playlist encapsulates the array of feelings and thoughts of that time.
Winter 2024
Journey
A journey of self exploration and study on relations, behaviors, beliefs, triumphs, failures, lessons learnt and to be learned.
Spring 2023
Rebirth
This is in the process of recovering from a vocal paralysis. Barely able to speak for several months, I truly understand the importance of my voice now. Things will be different. Things are different. I am different now.
Autumn 2022
Hibernate
Songs for hibernation, reflection, distraction, release, meditation, contemplation, remembering.
Summer 2022
Intense Summer
Songs to get you in the mood for a highly emotional summer.
COFFEE POUR MIX
Winter 2022
A curation of music that has appeared on my instagram stories and reels.
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Summer 2020
Summer 2020
The music that came out in 2020 was what got me through that period.
Love Story
May 2020
Time began to move slowly during the initial months of the covid pandemic. In May of 2020, I began the journey of going through my memories. Each of these songs are part of my mental memory roadmap of relationships and healing.
Stephen's Memoir I: The Onion
May 2020
On an afternoon in May, I took a special chocolate, and a door opened in my mind. Bit by bit memories of songs started coming back into my mind. I followed this trail and made this playlist in mostly one sitting. The songs here track back to significant points in my life.
2017: Wandering
December 2017
Wandering the world, finding my place.