The Application of Music to Life

I believe that each of us creates a playlist, or a soundtrack to our lives that grows with each passing day. It isn’t intentional. It just kind of happens, like life. You hear a song and for whatever reason, it resonates with every fiber of your being for that particular moment. I don’t even know that I believe we have a say in the song selection. They just kind of stick.

Take for example, when my son Talon was born. The day we brought him home from being born, my boss called and told me congratulations. Then she told me she needed me to turn in my keys because some things that I said to the mayor (about his performance) of a town we were developing in didn’t sit very well with him. It didn’t cause the company to lose the deal, but she said it almost did. Having a second child should be a great time in your life, but finding myself newly unemployed was drastically impairing my ability to be happy. At some point over the next couple of weeks, I was in my car, and I heard Fleetwood Mac singing “Go Your Own Way”. I’d heard it a billion times, as everyone else has, but this time it was applied like a tourniquet to my hemorrhaging life. It became a game changer. Although the song is about an inappropriate relationship between band mates, the chorus really seemed to be what I needed most. I could go my own way. I did. I quit looking for jobs of the traditional type, and started up my own company. I created a not so run of the mill computer repair company. I only worked after 5pm, I would pick up and deliver computers, and I did everything the big guys did without up-charging for convenience. My wife was less than supportive. In fact, she kept making the statement that “You don’t have a company.” When I started, she said it. When I ordered business cards and invoices she said it. When I registered my business with the IRS, and state she said it, and when I hired my tax guy she said it. She didn’t acknowledge that I did in fact have a business until she realized that I was paying for the house, and car and all of my other bills without having another job for income. When I sold it to move to Pennsylvania, she was upset about it. I’m okay with that.

Now every time I hear “Go Your Own Way”, I can’t help but think back to all of those ups and downs, and smile. I could go my own way. I did it very well.