Sometimes when I’m homesick, I pop in my OPM playlist and it gives me the sense of comfort you get when you feel at home. This music always takes away any loneliness.

The other day, Odin and I were blasting some old college band tracks in the car on the way to the supermarket. These were songs by our friends from university, the ones we’d support by going to their gigs at local bars while drinking not-so-cold beer. I checked the list of band names on the playlist and wondered out loud, “Wow, how many of these bands are still active?” I think I counted two.

Surveying the list, I thought about what those band members are doing now. Some are freelance creatives, some are running their own companies. Some went to pursue MBAs and do well in the corporate world. Some are financial advisors selling insurance. Many are now parents. Everyone grows up eventually, priorities change. It’s just wild to think that some guy in a suit out there, managing teams or other people’s money, once put out a rock album with his friends back in their twenties.

It got me thinking how my own life turned out. I’m not where I thought I would be but I also don’t think I did too bad for myself. On my 18th birthday, I jumped in a country club pool in the middle of the night in my underwear with some friends and got chased out by security guards. At my age now, I find my greatest joys in tending to my rose garden on a sunny day.

Change is good. The best days of my life are always ahead of me. But I love how young and dumb and naive we used to be, thinking we could fly into the sun.