I’ve been doing a lot of thinking as I approach my 39th birthday tomorrow.

Back in the 80’s or 90’s, this was the time of the midlife crisis, but I’m not feeling like my life is a crisis.  Nowadays, some folks use the last year of their thirties to tackle items on a bucket list, but I don’t like the idea of putting a deadline on accomplishing some of the things I haven’t yet done.  There’s a lot I still want to do, and I don’t really feel “old” yet.

However, I’ve got a thing for milestones.  Birthdays, relationship anniversaries, work anniversaries… there’s something in me that ceremonializes them, more than most people probably do.  It’s a chance to look back, to evaluate the changes over a set period.  Who did I meet?  What did I do?  Where did I grow?  Heaven forbid, did I step back?

I’ve also got a thing for music.  You know how JD was always in his own head on Scrubs?  I don’t have a narrator, but I definitely have a music director in my head.  Sometimes a situation brings a song to mind, and sometimes a song in the background fits the situation.  Sometimes they make questionable decisions, and sometimes they deserve an Oscar.  Sometimes it’s me, but most of the time it’s God.  Regardless, music plays a huge role in how I remember my life.

And a lot of that soundtrack, these last 39 years, revolves around Jimmy Buffett.

I don’t remember a time in my life that I didn’t know Jimmy’s music.  It seems like it was always on in the background.  My dad tells stories of seeing a young singer-songwriter dude performing in the student union at the University of Miami.  My mom, brother and I goofily sang along to one of his songs in a parking lot – I don’t remember why we did, but it’s one of my happier memories.  He got heavy rotation during our road trips, our sailing trips, and he still features heavily at Christmas with my family.  Almost two years ago, two of his songs had important places in my wedding.

So, the idea occurred to me – I’m going to pick 52 Buffett songs, and visit one a week with an eye towards how that song featured in my life.  Was it the soundtrack to a moment?  Did it influence how I thought or felt?  I’m kinda interested to see if this little experiment reveals to me something about myself, or puts past events in perspective.  I’m looking forward to the writing exercise, and the creative outlet.  I’m naming this in tribute to the song “A Pirate Looks at Forty”, but I probably will save that one for last.

Anyways, I hope y’all enjoy this.  I hope I actually keep up with it.  ❤