“With a Righteous Invasion of Truth…”

These words were the main theme behind the first album (in CD form) that I ever owned. It was one of many Carman albums that I desired and obtained over the course of my young life. I remember the Christmas I received it with my sister as a gift, back in the day when Christian music was the prevalent musical influence in our household. In a time before mp3 players and iPods, my music selection was rather limited, and I reveled in my musical ignorance.

That was over ten years ago.

Having just recently celebrated my 25^th birthday, I decided to look back on the past quarter century and contemplate upon how much I have grown (as I am sure all of us do in our mid-twenties). Indeed, I have grown in stature and intellectual capacities. I have had many life experiences both joyous and somber that have created a hopefully well-rounded individual. One thing that has also hallmarked my somewhat varied life is the massive amount of music I came to listen to over the years. Now that I have caught up with the times with my own iPod, I find myself listening to a song or a band that I have placed in the back corners of my melodic memory on numerous occasions. Many times over recent months, I have asked myself the question, "What was I thinking when I listened to this band/song/genre/album?" While my musical tastes have held somewhat a basic intrinsic theme of sorts, the variations of each can at times seem to be the extreme of the others. When I listen to my iPod on shuffle, I am amazed at how many times the songs don't make sense next to each other in my repertoire of lyrical gems and "diamonds-in-the-rough."

Then, it occurred to me. I'm a musical hoarder.

It's true, and as they say, admission is the first step to recovery—or in this case, discovery. I have set before myself a journey of sorts for the coming year…or however long it takes to trudge through all the music that finds itself on my iPod. Inspired by a recent film of blogging through food, I have decided to blog through music. More specifically, I have decided to blog of my life through music. Much of the reason I kept all this music is that, at some point, each one of these songs was a part of my life, describing where I was at that time. Everyone has said at some point that they had a grouping of songs that were the 'soundtrack to their life.' This, my fellow travelers, is mine.

I invite you to join me, whoever you may be, on a journey of vulnerability and self-discovery as I recount the good, the bad, and the ugly of my life through 228 of the most poignant moments (or less than poignant, depending on the context) of my life. My one hope is that through this journey I inspire myself—and perhaps even you—to find the unique melody within that God has placed since the beginning of our existence. For among all the songs, one central theme will become clear.

And I intend to find out what that theme is for me.