Blue songs are like tattoos
You know I’ve been to sea before
Crown and anchor me
Or let me sail away

From Joni Mitchell’s song “Blue” from Blue

I have thought about getting a tattoo for years. My dissertation chair in graduate school had tattoos, and many people who finished their doctorates under her guidance got tattoos when they graduated. I did not. I was scared it would hurt, and did not know what image I would get that I would not wind up regretting. Ten or so years after finishing my degree, always feeling a desire to get a tattoo, I found myself in Bali studying yoga. I fell in love with Ganesha, the Hindu guardian of beginnings, lover of arts and sciences, and remover of obstacles. I immediately thought of Ganesha as a subject for the tattoo that had long been on my mind.

Cut to the part where it is the 50th anniversary celebration of Joni Mitchell’s Blue. This album was one of the first albums I ever loved. I stole it from my parent’s collection. I would listen to it for hours on my little yellow eight track. I heard the album again the other day and thoughts began to swirl. I found this opening line in the title track. “Blue songs are like tattoos.” This album — an album written on my heart basically from the beginning — is 50. I will be 50 in October. The beginning of my post-50 life. Perhaps this year I will finally embrace the dance between crown and anchor and sailing away. Perhaps this year is a time to celebrate beginnings and remove obstacles. Perhaps this year is time to get a Ganesha tattoo.