Of course i fall back on music from my childhood to deal with my current events; so i inspect Steve Winwood lyrics from the 80s in dealing with a personal problem in 2026. And despite my protestations to the contrary with science and math, i think i turned out to be just a regular old English major. Analyzing text and writing a little about it is my preferred way of dealing with problems.

Steve Winwood’s Back In The High Life should be the theme album, i’ve decided, for this book. Maybe the album seems a lot different, forty years later; but i 100% stand by that choice as i listen to it, song by song.

‘Split Decision’ was the song i wanted to look up the lyrics to, earlier, when trying to figure out how i felt about my friend. But ‘Back In The High Life Again’ really resonates too — it has just the kind of positive & contemplative feeling that i’m looking for.

“While there is time, let’s go out and feel everything …” is just how i feel right now. Maybe that means i’m ready to let myself feel emotions again, gods help us!

Or maybe it’s a reflection of how many (hemp-derived) THC gummies i take these days — the phrase Back In The High Life indicates that not only did i used to get high (illegally), but that i also get high now (legally). My pot-smoking days were actually very few; i bought a half-ounce of some nasty weed that was likely laced with speed or some such (probably to make up for its lack of potency) and a water pipe. Maybe i got high three or four times, with people or alone; one or two hits was all it took to get going with this stuff — boom, boom, boom, … — not a particularly nice high, but everyone has to start somewhere.

The hemp-derived THC gummies are a lot different. Now that i’ve developed some THC tolerance, i can take a (10mg) gummy and take a second an hour later and a third an hour later (or maybe just stop at two) — that keeps me flying for many hours, but not too high; everyone has to work out their own dosing. If instead i took all three gummies at once, then i would get much higher (unpleasantly so, where merely standing up becomes a struggle); but it wouldn’t last nearly as long. I prefer a nice, smooth, & mellow high. To each their own.

Each person deals with life differently — with adversity and with success and with social interactions. Everyone does what they have to to get by in life.

I hope you find things to get through life.