A blog about grief, healing, music and memory
Welcome to Soundtrack of Survival – where grief isn’t a burden to bury, but a story to carry.
I’m Tara Cotten. This is a space for the playlists that hold us together, the trips that help us breathe and the sisterhoods that keep us from breaking. Here, we don’t “move on” from loss. We move *though* it with music, as our compass, and travel as our therapy. The messy, magnificent truth is that survival is never a solo act.
This platform was born from personal loss – more than 15 people, including family, friends and chosen family. When my dad died in 2024 I marked it as a turning point. I’d spent years surviving, creating meaning, and showing up. But suddenly, I knew I needed to offer what I could. Not answers, but connection. Not perfection, but presence.
You’ll also see my twin sister, Erica, show up here from time to time. We’ve lived the same story in different ways, and that gives us a lot to say about grief, survival, and healing. She’ll be joining me for a few episodes of the Soundtrack to Survival podcast to share her perspective. And as she works on her debut novel – fiction shaped by real emotion – she’s adding her own voice to this growing conversation.
Soundtrack of Survival is part podcast.
It is part memory book.
It is also part love letter.
to everyone who’s ever felt like they had to carry it all alone.
We talk about growing up in chaos, carrying trauma into adulthood and living with things like C-PTSD, OCD and bipolar disorder. But we also talk about music, and trips, and moments of joy that break through the darkness – and help us stay.
If you’ve ever been haunted by ghosts of a hometown, or danced with diagnoses like bipolar, OCD, or C-PTSD, you are not alone.
If you need someone to say, ‘I’ve been there too,’ press play.
Let’s rewrite the soundtrack of what it means to survive – and stay.”
Coming Soon:
**The Soundtrack of Survival Podcast**
Launching soon (January 2026). This podcast will feature real conversations about grief, trauma, memory, and the music and media that help hold us together. Episodes will blend storytelling, song reflections, and guest interviews that will go deep – and honor what we have carried.
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What’s on the Horizon:
I’m dreaming up a retreat – quiet, healing, music – filled, and rooted in rest. Nothing’s official yet. But when it is, you’ll be the first to know.
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