This is the soundtrack to my life.

Twice over the past couple of months, I've been challenged to pick out one song - the song that defines who I am or want to be.

The first came from a therapist. We were talking about using music as a coping skill. Yay! I love music. My iTunes contains the rhythms that my heart dances to. I have a soundtrack. Then she wanted to know what that one song would be - the one that defines me.

That's not a fair question to ask a music obsessive guy like me. I wasn't kidding when I said I have a soundtrack. There's a playlist on my computer called "My Soundtrack" that currently has 549 songs in it. Pick one? Is that even possible?

She bargained at a dozen songs so I went home and combed through that list - narrowing it down to 52 songs. Those 52 were culled further and I trimmed it down to about 20, which she said was perfect.

Then came the Start Experiment with Jon Acuff. He had been giving us daily challenges - some easier than others. 13 days in, he asked us to build our soundtrack. The reasoning is that "Every dream needs a soundtrack." He asked us to share one song with our group that would be ours. Again, only one? I call foul.

Luckily, that challenge arrived in my inbox the day after I posted the story about Steve Taylor's song Jim Morrison's Grave and the impact it had on my life. Task complete.

But my soundtrack is often revisited. It is the playlist that is currently on the iPod that I have playing at my office. For the sake of my emotional health, my sanity, my sense of peace and serenity, I listen to it regularly. It reminds me where I've been, who I am, and who I'd like to be. It is eclectic to the point of whiplash - a point a couple of coworkers have pointed out to me.

I thought I'd begin to share that playlist with you. Song by song. It won't be a daily thing, but you can expect it to pop up every now and then.

To start that off, I'm going back to a song that came out right before I graduated high school. Some of you might find this as evidence of my horrible and/or superior taste in music, but this song has always resonated with me. Perhaps now more than ever.



For those of you who know what's going on in my life, you probably understand why this is the first song I'm letting out as the soundtrack to my life.

I've never been so alone and I've never been so alive. (full lyrics HERE)