Like many people, music has always been a meaningful part of my life. Whether I’m driving, working, studying, or just relaxing, music has a way of grounding me—it calms, lifts, or simply keeps you company wherever you’re headed. In fact I’m listening to it right now as I’m writing this.

So, what do I listen to? Honestly, it depends.

In the car, it’s usually ’90s Korean music—partly because Kacie and I can sing along and get nostalgic, and partly because that’s what I listened to growing up. Our playlists bounce between old-school K-pop—Sechskies (my wife’s favorite boy group), g.o.d, Jinusean, Solid, SES, H.O.T….and newer groups like NewJeans, IU, Bolbbalgan, and Day6. SG Wannabe makes frequent appearances too. Honestly, they’re all incredible.

Backstreet Boys show up now and then too—I listened to them way back as a kid along with M2M, Michael Learns to Rock, Westlife, Savage Garden etc. Aaaand a mix of ‘80s and ‘90s American pop. Don’t Stop Believin’, To be with you, Nothing’s gonna stop us now, More than a feeling, Heaven is a place on Earth, etc. A little Coldplay, a little more Taylor Swift—just the feel-good, familiar stuff. I waver between ‘As long as you love me’ and ‘Something just like this’ as my favorite of all time.

Then, late at night, when I’m alone, I’ll sometimes go back to the songs I listened to during my Ann Arbor days. Mostly worship music, which is ironic considering how much I skipped, ah, ‘attendance’ due to struggling with classes. It seems to fit where I’m at in life now—quiet, reflective, in need, and grounding in a different way.

Looking back, the past few decades have gifted us so much amazing music. I don’t think I’ll ever run out of things to listen to.

One thing though, I’ll probably never get Park Hyo Shin, Kacies favorite. Seriously, the guys puts me to sleep almost instantly.