You may be thinking, “what in the world is a parrothead?” Well funny you ask because I looked it up. According to the Urban dictionary a Parrothead is ‘a fan of Jimmy Buffett….In general the life of a parrotlead is one of relaxation and being on a permanent mental vacation.’

Do I need to even write anymore? A permanent mental vacation. You are probably thinking ‘yes please- I want to be a Parrothead.’ You may also wonder how I become a Parrothead. Well, I was first introduced to Jimmy Buffett music my first year of college. I was 18 and loved every Buffett song more than the last. It was all I listened to.

The next year I found myself joining a Parrothead club where I was the youngest member by atleast a few decades. I usually won all the trivia challenges on Jimmy Buffett song lyrics. This probably annoyed the more ‘seasoned’ parrotheads…

The year after that I decided to take a trip with a few Parrotheads and go to Key West for a festival called ‘Meeting of the Minds.’ Now that was a fun trip! I have not been back to Key West since and I almost don’t want to go back because of how perfect it was in my 20 year old head. I had no cares in the world and I rented a vintage bike that I nicknamed ‘liquid blue’ and rode around the island all week. The palm trees swayed, the weather was perfect, and Buffett music played in my ears. Did I mention that I drank top shelf tequila with Jimmy Buffett’s band?! Yes, I did. What a dream!

Fast forward to today and I am still very much a Parrothead and my kids know the lyrics to many Jimmy Buffett songs. I had to introduce my husband to this Parrothead stuff and I tell him that he is Parrothead by association 😉 Our older two kids attended a Buffett concert with us last summer and I couldn’t help but think that this is everything I dreamed of as a 20 year old Parrothead when I was skipping college to go to Key West or singing along at a Buffett concert from my lawn seats.

So, how has being a Parrothead made me who I am today and how does it bring out the best version of myself? I will tell you by using lyrics from a few of my favorite Jimmy Buffett songs (disclaimer: all JB songs are my favorites… 😉 )

“Take it all in- it’s as big as it seems, count all your blessings, remember your dreams.”

~Jimmy Buffett

This lyric is from Jimmy Dreams. Good reminder, right?! Sometimes we need to stop and just take it all in and realize how incredible blessed we are. We have so many blessings and it is important to stop and think about them. It is also important to remember your dreams. When I think back to being a 20 year old parrothead I had so many big dreams. It is important for us to not completely lose touch of that young person with big goals before real life started- both to remember that you can still accomplish those dreams and also to look back and see how far you have come when those dreams are your reality.

“Forget that blind ambition and learn to trust your intuition.”

~Jimmy Buffett

This is from the song Cowboy in the Jungle. In my experience your gut or your intuition will never lead you in the wrong direction. The times I have messed up in life were times when I did not trust that intuition. If you think about it I bet this is true for you, too. Jimmy Buffett knew what he was talking about on this one!

“Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes.”

~Jimmy Buffettt

This is one of Jimmy Buffett’s more popular songs, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. You could think of these lyrics in two ways. Either that travelling to a different location will improve your attitude or that you need to change your attitude no matter your location. It could have been easy for me to be sad when we moved from a city with all the stores and restaurants you can imagine to a tiny town with a only a few options, but I made up my mind to have a positive attitude and this move turned out to be the best latitude for us. The first scenario can also be true because it is hard to have a bad attitude when you are near the ocean!

“Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see.”

~Jimmy Buffett

This song is called Barometer Soup. A lot of my absolute favorite songs are ones that most non-Parrotheads don’t know about. This is one of those songs. Listen to it. I bet you will be in a better mood after you hear it! For me this song is a good reminder for a goal-oriented person like me to enjoy the journey, not just the destination. Slow down and take a look at the awesome things infront of you while you have your eye on the end goal. Such a good song.

“Breathe in, breathe out, move on.”

~Jimmy Buffett

This song is called Breathe in, Breathe out, Move on. I love this. There is no point dwelling on the past or overthinking the ‘what ifs’ or the ‘what could of beens.’ Just take it in, learn from it, and move on. Don’t live in the past when there is still so much living to do. Right?! Right.

In my life Jimmy Buffett music has played in my Trans Am while I was on a road trip to the beach or on my way to college finals. It now plays in my 15 passenger van while we go on family trips or to ball practice. Jimmy Buffett music plays across our house on a regular basis. This music has pretty much been in the background of my entire adult life. If I am having a bad day all I have to do is play some Jimmy Buffett music and the sun seems to shine again.

Try it. You may find that you, too, are a Parrothead!

Until next time,