When it’s time to change the channel.

What a year!

My very first text of 2018 was the horrifying news that an old friend, her husband, and their two children- all four brimming with promise – had perished in a fiery plane crash in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, death continued to follow us throughout the year; we lost close friends, cherished relatives, and fun-loving neighbors almost every month. Now in December, it feels as if the year has given us more endings than beginnings.

So I tried to “change the channel,” as I call it, and focus on the good, the happy, the new, the promise. Our sons are healthy and happy. Business is flourishing. My 84-year-old mother is still going strong. (An understatement.) We travel, we entertain, we read. We learn. We laugh.

Life is a series of ups and downs, and during this often painful year I discovered a new form of solace for myself – music. It may sound strange to those of you who listen to music regularly, but I’m a news hound, and my music of choice has always been the news, until this year when it often became too difficult to bear.

No matter what side of the aisle you’re on, the deep divide in this country — complete with a lack of common courtesy, a never-ending flow of vitriolic language, and the normalization of hate — compelled me to tune it out and turn to music when my aching soul needed soothing. In the car, just switching to the classical music station relaxes my head, my jaw, my shoulders, and I find myself daydreaming, giving my brain a much-needed break.

The holiday season is a good time to share, so with a little crowd-sourcing among the team, we offer you the first Albert Communications 2018 Holiday playlist. It’s not filled with Christmas songs, but with the songs that make us smile. And daydream. And hope. We hope they’ll do the same for you.

Enjoy it, send us ideas of songs to add to it, and don’t hesitate to change your own channel.

Here’s to a happy, meaningful holiday season and a healthy, productive year for all.