Rust, Wrinkles & Gray Hair

Tonight I watched a documentary called The History of The Eagles. It reminded me how much I truly enjoy their music and made me think of my dad. I went through a phase where ALL I TALKED ABOUT was The Eagles and how groovy their melodies were and how much their lyrics spoke to me. Whenever I would talk about it, my dad would just get this big grin on his face and nod his head. I was born at least a decade too late. I was experiencing their music many years after my dad and everybody else had already realized their musical genius, so I'm sure he got a kick out the fact that his daughter liked "his" music. Or maybe he was just glad I had gotten over my The Doors phase or was taking a break from talking about my favorite band, Journey.

As I was watching the show, some of the lyrics I've always loved resonated with me all over again, maybe because my birthday is tomorrow and I'm reflecting on my life a little bit. (Does everyone do this on their birthday or is it just me?) I wonder if I'm just wasting my time on earth away or if I'm really just busy living, you know?

Lyrics from one of my favorite Eagles songs, Wasted Time:
You never thought you'd be alone this far down the line
And I know what's been on your mind
You're afraid it's all been wasted time...
And maybe someday we will find, that it wasn't really
Wasted time... 

I also think my dad liked that I was totally enamored with a band, and in particular Don Henley, who was committed to preserving the environment. Don Henley founded the Walden Woods Project. And my dad's favorite artist, John Denver, founded the Windstar Foundation. One time, he sat me down and made me listen to the song Learn to Be Still. I didn't really get it at the time, but I do now. Come to think of it, a lot of the Eagles songs have sort of the same message: things can change in a New York Minute, Life in the Fast Lane, Take it Easy, even Take it to the Limit:
You can spend all your time making money
You can spend all your love making time

I think I spent a lot of years being more focused on making money (and wow, I wasn't great at that, was I?) And we all spend a lot of time trying to make enough time for love, don't we? Actually that's an entire blog post of it's own for me. Some days I feel like the song Desperado was written for me. Nobody understands the true meaning of Hotel California, but I think we can all agree it's one of the coolest, rockingest songs of all time. :)

But the most compelling thing about this documentary was something Don Henley said at the end. He referenced a Neil Young quote about quitting before you rust. He was referring to music, of course, but it made me think about life. I was feeling old and rusty, but what Don Henley said made me feel better:
"I don't see rust as a bad thing. I have an old 1962 John Deere tractor that's covered in rust, but it runs like a top. You know the inner workings are just fine. To me, that rust symbolizes all the work done and all the experiences gained. From where I sit, rust looks pretty good."

So I may be a little rusty, have some wrinkles and gray hair, but I also have some experience...and Life's Been Good to Me So Far. :)