I turned 47 this week. There was also an election. It was also the 8th anniversary of my dad’s passing. I know this is a Product blog, but allow me to take a moment to just say, dang, y’all. What a week. What a decade. I don’t have words for the era we are about to enter in the US. So, as always, I turn to music. Some people eat their feelings, I listen to mine.

First, I made a post-election feels mixtape on Spotify. I am deliberate about calling it a mixtape and not a playlist. There’s no specific genre, it’s all vibes. And if you do decide to give it a go, don’t shuffle. There’s an arc here.

Second, as I often do, I used my birthday to do a listen-through of as many Genesis albums as I can fit in (if you know me and my unnatural obsession with Phil Collins, this won’t surprise you). The song Undertow has always been one of my favorites, but this week it hit especially hard:

Stand up to the blow that fate has struck upon you
Make the most of all you still have coming to you
Lay down on the ground and let the tears run from you
Crying to the grass and trees and heaven finally on your knees

Let me live again, let life come find me wanting
Spring must strike again against the shield of winter
Let me feel once more the arms of love surround me
Telling me the danger’s past, I need not fear the icy blast again

We are heading into—sorry for using the word everyone is using but I don’t think there’s a better one—unprecedented times. Brené Brown says we should focus on “micro-dosing hope”. I like that. I don’t know where we’re heading, but I have to believe that Spring must strike again. And that when it does, we’ll need not fear the icy blast again.

Stay strong, friends. ❤️