This reminds me of something I wrote in my 2013 self-portrait essay. The essay covers everything from where I was on my spiritual journey that at the time I didn't know I was on, to addiction, to suicide and depression, to love (both eros and platonic), to what books I liked and what foods I loved and to some favorite song lyrics of mine. About that I wondered:

"I love how music triggers memories — often bringing me back to a time that now seems simpler and yearned for — but in reality those times were no simpler than the present — maybe it just seems that way because I survived them — because they are safely in the past?"