One day I was hanging out with a friend listening to music in his car, and I did not like his music taste. So, I gathered the information I knew about him and prompted him to play songs inspired by his experiences. In these moments I became uninterested in how vastly different our music tastes are and was excited to listen to music through the ears of my friend. A casual hangout turned into hours of intentional connection. After that, I played with friends and on first dates for years until I realized just how useful this tool is.

I remember when MP3 Players didn’t have screens and you couldn’t pick which songs you wanted to listen to the way you can now. Songs would play on shuffle, and I would lay in bed and think, this song reminds me of—, and it was such an amazing way to reconnect with myself. Some songs reminded me of places, some of people, some of feelings; I loved the way I traveled through my lifetime listening to my shuffled library. Now instead of shuffling my library, I shuffle the cards.