Reacting to triggers; good and bad.

The Bike my boy used to ride when we were at the farm. The little bike has seen better days and now sits unused. It has been many years since one of the kids took a ride on that bike. We are lucky because we have some video of those days.

Tonight I am just sitting around listening to Stevie Wonder on youtube. Music is one of those triggers that we get hit with everyday. Driving in your car, an old song comes on that reminds you of that summer crush on the new girl in the Reserve. She's good looking girl from another Reserve. She doesn't go out with you, but goes out with your cousin. The song takes you back to that time and the emotions that came with it at the time. It makes you smile.

One of the questions that a psychiatrist asked me was if I ever get triggers and think about my Boy. I never gave it much thought at the time. I think everyone has some type of trigger that takes them back to different stages in their life. I know the smell of gasoline from a ski-doo or power-saw make think of my Dad. It makes me think of him at a certain time in my life. Not my dad as I was older, but when I was a little kid. I guess that is when the wood stove would have been used more in the house. When I would see a hammer it would make me think of my Dad, again when I was a small little kid. I guess when I was a little kid that is when my Dad was the greatest. It's strange how smells, sounds, things take us to different places in our lives.

Music is a powerful trigger. Different songs take you to different places and to see different people. Growing up, my Dad was a big country fan. He (and by default me) used to listen to Hank Williams Sr., George Jones, Charlie Pride and the like. Today I am a big fan of those singers. I also like music that my older siblings listened to, like Savoy Brown, Johnny Winter, Pink Floyd, Rory Gallagher, ACDC, Temptations, Janis Joplin, Stones, Van Morrison and the list goes on. The thing about these singers is that each takes me to different places. And the places change even if the song doesn't. Cat Stevens used to remind me of my youth and in high school, but now it takes me back to a time when my Mom was around. Van Morrison takes me back to my days when my Boy was around.

I think the reaction to triggers changes with the station in your life. It's fun and sometimes sad but we can travel back to a place we were when a trigger is hitting us.

Hope your triggers are good ones.