Why A Well-Crafted Playlist Is The Key To Late Night Bottle Feedings
It's a good time for a drink.
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In my house, 10 PM is sacred.
Each night, a window into the realm of infinity is cracked. The clatter is silenced, the urgency is stilled, everything stops. And I’m reminded the supernatural — more often than not — can be found in the simple.
This is the time carved out for me to feed my daughter before bed. The lights are off except for a faint purple glimmer from a diffuser in the corner. Daddy carefully selects the right hipster-songwriter album to be played. The Lumineers, William Fitzsimmons, Radical Face, and the like fill the space with wonder, ambience, and comfort.
Flickr / StarsApart
Gently singing the soft tunes while gliding in the rocker, coos of delight spill from the corners of a little mouth as she guzzles her nighttime formula. Eye-contact is made, smiles are shared, and dreams are dreamt between the 2. The world has never been so small and yet so full than at this exact moment. This ritual breeds love.
It’s at this time, each evening, despite all the unknown and all the years laying ahead, that the world seems to make the most sense. At 10 PM, everything is connected.
I find myself reminded that it’s the pursuit of such moments that keep us trudging along, one foot scraping in front of the other. It’s within the fibers of these profoundly simple instances that life is most magnanimously lived. And though time may not stand still, we know firsthand the feeling of it is a treasure unlike any other.
A much-needed reminder that life is beautiful and worthwhile.
Flickr / Honza Soukup
It’s impossible to predict what challenges and gifts the coming decades will bring. I don’t even know what tomorrow’s music selection will be. But I know enough to breathe a sigh of gratefulness, for the depths of which we feel is a gift unlike any other.
And in moments like these, when time stands still, we may finally realize the more of which we are meant … one another.
For a new father, a growing daughter, a gentle rocker, 3 oz. of formula, and a well-crafted playlist — 10 PM is sacred.
Mitchell Roush is a professional communicator, marketing manager, and published playwright. He and his California-born wife live in Nebraska where they hope to survive new-found parenthood. Check out his twitter, podcast, and instagram.
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