Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” is one of the most iconic songs in popular culture, often associated with a carefree, beach-focused lifestyle. The song itself has its own cultural impact that has been substantial and multi-faceted. It defines the “Island Escapism” Lifestyle, crystallizing a specific American fantasy – escaping the rat race for a laid-back tropical paradise where worries melt away with frozen drinks and ocean breezes. In keeping with yesterday’s story, it is, perhaps, the best Americanized version of “Il dolce far niente”. But at the same time, the irony of it all is that Jimmy Buffett rode this carefree theme to creating a business empire with “Margaritaville” transformed from a song into a massive commercial enterprise including restaurants, hotels, casinos, retirement communities, merchandise, and even a short-lived Broadway musical. It’s a rare example of a single song launching a billion-dollar lifestyle brand. And it epitomizes American culture in many ways. It is the classic work hard / play hard theme. It has also coined cultural phrases like “Wasting away in Margaritaville” and “searching for my lost shaker of salt”, which have entered the American lexicon as shorthand for carefree relaxation and minor vacation troubles. Buffett established the “Trop Rock” genre (there’s even a Sirius radio channel for it) with Buffett pioneering this musical style himself of blending country, folk, and Caribbean influences, inspiring countless similar artists.
All of this cultivated the “Parrothead” Community, with Buffett’s fans creating one of music’s most distinctive and dedicated fan communities, complete with their own rituals, fashion, and social gatherings. It’s had a tourism impact that has helped popularize Key West and other tropical destinations, boosting tourism economies throughout the Caribbean and Florida. It’s also popularized the drink itself. While margaritas existed before the song, Buffett’s anthem significantly boosted the cocktail’s popularity across America. I can’t tell you the many times the song and tag lines have popped into my head over the years and I doubt that I’m unique in that. In fact, since I do not drink margaritas or any other alcoholic beverages, I am the antithesis of Margaritaville. I really don’t party, nor have I ever partied, strangely enough. It has just never been my thing. I tend to attribute this tendency less to a high level of seriousness and more to that unique brain chemistry I possess that wakes me up every morning feeling wonderful and optimistic. I have always assumed that that makes getting wasted on margaritas or anything else superfluous or perhaps even counterproductive to my happiness.
As I have grown up 3XL, as I like to say, I have also been fortunate enough to be able to carry my weight for the most part with my activities relatively unimpaired. I recall a subordinate once telling me that he was impressed that my bulk did not deter me from living life to the max. he told me that when we were on a ski trip in Utah. I take pride in two parts of that story. First, I am proud that my bulk has not slowed me down or kept me from doing the things I like. But also, I am proud that a subordinate would have the comfort to tell me something like that. It speaks to the relationships I liked to establish with my team members, a practice often frowned upon in business, but which I always thought was a key tenet of good leadership. So there is the kluge of my life in the jaxapositioning of those elements. I have been bulky without restrictions and driven but not blind to those around me. But as I drift further and further into retirement, those things are falling apart in interesting ways.
To begin with, my reduced hard-charging may have taken a bit of a toll on my interpersonal ease. I have noticed recently that its hard for me to not find myself crosswise with the alphas in whatever clique I am running amongst. That’s mostly other men, but a few women as well. The point is that without knowing or wanting it, I seem to have a degree of interpersonal tension with them which is palpable. I don’t like that, or perhaps better said, I don’t like feeling that way about myself and its hard for me to avoid it with swords crossing over inconsequential things on a routine basis. I grant you that peer relationships were always harder than either subordinate or superior ones, but I find little comfort in that.
The other distressing thing is that my bulk is now starting to get in my way. This is not a totally new phenomenon, but generally, when I would feel this way, I would naturally drop some weight and get into a more comfortable zone from which to conduct my preferred activities. I am not suggesting that I ever got perfectly fit, but fit enough for my weight not not impede me uncomfortably. Now, with the addition of age-related impediments to weight-related impediments, it seems harder to dismiss and I am, inadvertently, scaling back my activities. Being sedentary is not a new phenomenon to me, but everyone has their comfort levels with anything and I sense I am getting close to uncomfortably sedentary. With “motion being the best lotion”, I recognize the problem that drift presents, and I want to counter it. Without really trying to, my system seems to be taking matters into its own hands. I have now dropped 10 pounds since heading off on my South American cruise a bit under a month ago. Obviously, most people gain weight on cruises, the feedbag being a big part of the offering. But that hasn’t been the case for me. I came back about 2-4 pounds lighter and in the past week I have extended that to the ten pounds mentioned. In fact, I think I have now hit a retirement low for me. That is good timing since I have a semiannual doctor’s visit coming up in two days and I think I will show about a 20+ pound drop in that timeframe. Let’s see if my Vietnamese doctor can muster the bedside manner to say something nice to me about that.
My system seems to be adjusting to my new life. With my weight heading lower and my temperament adjusting to a newer, less aggressive manner (finding new and perhaps less appropriate targets), I’m wondering what’s likely to be the next part of my nature and existence to change. The good news is that at least I haven’t started to drink margaritas or anything else. So, I like to just say that I’m wasting away in Margaritaville…but without margaritas.