"He Not Busy Being Born Is Busy Dying" -Dylan

While writing the last post, I got to thinking about this metamorphosis of sorts I’ve been going through since becoming a parent. My values took a 180-degree turn with Parker coming into our lives. It wasn’t until recently that I discovered the impact children could have on a person. Marriage is nothing compared to parenthood, I was never worried about marrying Laura. I knew she was the person for me and unlike other people, I welcomed to permanent aspect of it. I enjoy making her happy; it makes me happy as well. However, parenthood now is a completely different thing. I recall never having an interest in children and their development. Now, I’m different. It reminds me of never being a fan of Bob Dylan until I borrowed a tape from Jeff when I was 29 years old. It was like night and day-one tape changed me forever from a musical perspective. I listed to the Bootleg tapes 1 through 3 and discovered a whole new world of music. It’s hard to explain and honestly a bit scary to think I had no interest in his music and lyrics before I listened to the tape. What really got me was an alternative version of Tangled Up In Blue he did. I still can’t put my finger on why it transformed my idea of music and its impact. That is probably evident when reading this…I just don’t know how to explain it. I recall immediately download and buying everything Dylan (including several biographies) after hearing that tape. A lot of it was crap but still, I went on an expedition of sorts, a journey into a world I hadn’t even thought of as important…folk music. From there I traveled to the land of Woody Guthrie, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, and other lesser-known folk artists of a latter day.

I equate this to the revelation of parenthood because they both represent my evolution as a person. Both are important to me and both instances show how one can never be content with themselves. Now, I can’t say they both have the same weight-obviously parenthood is a much stronger, prolonged, and much much more fulfilling experience than investigating the life and music of Bob Dylan. But both things have taught something about myself…there’s always more to life than one thinks. Who knows, I may be buying the Abba box set next week dancing around the house to “Fernando”. Okay, that’s a stretch.