When I was a teenager, I liked all kinds of media. Sure, I played loads of video games, went to the theater regularly, and watched an illegal amount of awful sitcoms. But I wasn’t obsessed with any of them like I was with music.

I would put on a CD I loved, and I’d listen to it over and over again. I would walk around with a portable disc player all the time, and that quickly transitioned to the iPod when the MP3 revolution took over. If I wasn’t actively talking to someone, I probably had music on.

Then I took up the electric bass and guitar, and my music obsession only increased. Would this become a career path? Did I want to perform or teach? Or maybe just write music?

None of that ended up happening; other interests started to take over. My iPod transitioned to more podcasts than music, and I started focusing in on technology and writing as my obsessions. Music got shoved deep down.

Obviously, I still enjoy listening to music. From cheery pop anthems like “Hot To Go” to the melancholy plucking of “Hard Time Killing Floor,” I’ll flip on the music streaming app and listen to my faves, but I was really struggling to feel the music like I did as a young person.

I have much, much nicer speakers and headphones than I did back then, so you’d think it’d be easy, right? The jams are pumped. Sadly, that’s not the case. It turns out, and as you’ve definitely guessed by now, my brain chemistry needs a little help to get into it like the good ol’ days.

If I take an edible for some anxiety or pain relief, it’s inevitable that I’ll eventually end up in my bedroom, lights off, listening to every single note in a Fats Domino album or a Stevie Wonder playlist.

What I thought was totally unavailable in my advanced age is actually just a funny gummy away, at any time. But you know what’s strange? I wasn’t a weedist when I was young. I didn’t partake even a little bit, so it’s not like I’m just revisiting my misspent youth. This is an entirely new experience.

Whether or not you use any mixture of cannabinoids is none of my business, but I can say from experience that there’s one weird trick to feel like you’re young again, and cops hate it!

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Image credit: Jair Medina Nossa