"Out and About Dad" Playlist #MusicMonday

In 2015, I wrote a book about my journey as a gay father. If you’ve heard me tell the story, it took some convincing to get me to write it, finish it, and then ultimately publish it. I just kept questioning whether the world needed my story out there. Would it help anyone? Are we on a path of progress that this won’t help at all? Would anyone care?

On the good side, it turned out that it did in fact help people. Many commented how much they related to the various aspects of my story and how it helped elevate them. Gay fathers, straight fathers, gay non-parents, moms, stay-at-home moms. I hate all the labels, but I think you get the drift. I was so honored that so many “flavors” of people found something about the book that brought them joy or contentment and in some cases entertainment. Breadsticks anyone?

When I released the book, I included a playlist that I also compiled on Spotify. Music that was there at each milestone, to ground the stories in music pop culture. Got a lot of positives from that too.

You can check it out on Spotify by clicking here.

On the list, you’ll see that I always christen every new home by playing “MacArthur Park” by Donna Summer as the first song that the house/apt hears.

Also, “Desperado” by Linda Ronstadt was a theme of mine for a period of time.

As a touching conclusion, I added “Both Sides Now” from Joni Mitchell.

I’m not the first to acknowledge a soundtrack that tracks my life. We likely all have one. I’m just proud to share the one from this very important phase of my life.

Happy Pride! What’s your theme song? What’s your experience? JIM