My 14 Year Old Daughter Likes Coldplay!

Taking the time.  Investing time in the things that matter most.  Pausing and reflecting.  There is an effect.  (I previously wrote a post about this concept titled “Pause & Reflect - The Cause & Effect.”)

Case in point.  Last night my family and I attended -- for the 12th consecutive time -- the annual “Lighting of the Del” holiday celebration at the world-famous Hotel del Coronado, a remarkable place down here in San Diego.  Hot chocolate.  Ice skating on an outdoor rink right off the beach and overlooking the ocean with a magical sunset.  Fireworks.  Food.  Friends.   Libations.  Yes, even Santa for those wanting to sit on a lap.

Another classic evening.  And, now a long-time Csathy family tradition.  Every one of us -- including our girl Hunter, age 14, and our boy Luca, age 11 -- look forward to this event every year.  It is simply an integral part of our Xmas season.  No matter how busy we are - with work, with school, with other life matters - we set this late afternoon/evening each year aside.  We invest the time.  And the effect is a magical evening that is ingrained in our hearts and minds forever.  Family memories that I have no doubt our kids will share with their kids.  Deeply embedded in their little psyches.

As we drove back from the Del together, my daughter -- a music lover like me -- manned the sound system with her iPhone.  She was the DJ.  Using a new music app that I had never known before, which is quite a feat because I know the digital music space quite well -- an app that you should check out called 8tracks (see, I squeezed a digital media angle in this very personal blog post!) -- she played a play-list that featured a classic Coldplay song.  “Fix You.”  That is a song that I used to crank in my home over and over and over again years and years ago -- from the time she was a toddler.

And, here’s the point.  My 14 year-old daughter never has been a Coldplay fan.  She never listens to Coldplay.  Let’s face it, Coldplay ain’t cool for 14 year-old girls.  But, she was in the moment.  A family moment.  A nostalgic moment.  A moment that reflected an investment of time over the years.  So, rather than skip that song, she asked me to crank up the volume once again -- just like I used to “back in the day.”  I obliged.  Cranked it to 11.  And, it became a magical moment that I never will forget.  Really won’t. All of us sang the entire classic song in full voice.  It was our “Tiny Dancer” moment a la the movie “Almost Famous.”

I don’t think my 14 year-old girl will forget that moment either ....