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Even though many religions and many more philosophies weakly or strongly suggest that the destination isn't nearly as important as the journey, people still tend to think in terms of getting or being somewhere.
I am ever less interested in getting somewhere.
It is possible that a natural part of aging is giving up the idea of "somewhere." Or maybe getting somewhere is less interesting because "somewhere" is a casket. Doesn't really matter why, though. I am damn tired of cultural, communal, and group atmospheres that touts the benefits of "becoming."
The other end of that atmosphere is just as tiring, too. I think I dislike it even more than thinking we have to get someplace. I really, really don't like the atmosphere that says "we have arrived." That we are now in the "somewhere" we were struggling to get to.
Both of those conversations are static. We are either at the somewhere so we can sit and be finished with the struggle or we will soon be somewhere so we can sit and be finished with the struggle. Either way, the goal is to be finished with the very thing that provides all the passion and zest in life.
That is not to say one should not have a goal. We are, minute by minute, living into the future. We better have some direction in mind. Not a destination, but a direction with many goals and completions. The final completion or "somewhere" is death. (Okay, of this life, anyway. I don't know what happens next.)
But getting to the goal is far less important that HOW we get to the goal.
One environment I find myself mired in is completely a status quo world. "This is the way we have always done it" and "If it's not broken, don't fix it" as the walls crumble in. It is a zombie world filled with folks who can't see the impending failure of their "we are there" attitude. To try and give a bit of life to it all, there are perks like signing happy birthday a couple of times a month and other things that relieve the tedium and boredom.
And although this song is about breaking up with a sweetheart, I find the underlying philosophy cogent.
(S. Silverstein/D. Locorriere)
I've got a couple more years on you, babe, and that's all
I've had more chances to fly, and more places to fall
And it ain't that I'm wiser, it's only that I've spent more time with my back to the wall
And I've picked up a couple more years on you, babe, and that's all
I've walked a couple more roads than you, babe, and that's all
And I'm tired of runnin' while you're only learning to crawl
And you're heading somewhere, but I've been to somewhere and found it was nowhere at all
And I've picked up a couple more years on you, babe, and that's all
Now saying goodbye girl, don't never come easy at all
But you've gotta fly 'cause you're hearing them young eagles call
And someday when you're older you'll smile at a man strong and tall
And you'll say I've got a couple more years on you, babe, and that's all
You'll say I've got a couple more years on you, babe, and that's all
I've had more chances to fly, and more places to fall
And it ain't that I'm wiser, it's only that I've spent more time with my back to the wall
And I've picked up a couple more years on you babe, and that's all.
I am ever less interested in getting somewhere.
It is possible that a natural part of aging is giving up the idea of "somewhere." Or maybe getting somewhere is less interesting because "somewhere" is a casket. Doesn't really matter why, though. I am damn tired of cultural, communal, and group atmospheres that touts the benefits of "becoming."
The other end of that atmosphere is just as tiring, too. I think I dislike it even more than thinking we have to get someplace. I really, really don't like the atmosphere that says "we have arrived." That we are now in the "somewhere" we were struggling to get to.
Both of those conversations are static. We are either at the somewhere so we can sit and be finished with the struggle or we will soon be somewhere so we can sit and be finished with the struggle. Either way, the goal is to be finished with the very thing that provides all the passion and zest in life.
That is not to say one should not have a goal. We are, minute by minute, living into the future. We better have some direction in mind. Not a destination, but a direction with many goals and completions. The final completion or "somewhere" is death. (Okay, of this life, anyway. I don't know what happens next.)
But getting to the goal is far less important that HOW we get to the goal.
One environment I find myself mired in is completely a status quo world. "This is the way we have always done it" and "If it's not broken, don't fix it" as the walls crumble in. It is a zombie world filled with folks who can't see the impending failure of their "we are there" attitude. To try and give a bit of life to it all, there are perks like signing happy birthday a couple of times a month and other things that relieve the tedium and boredom.
And although this song is about breaking up with a sweetheart, I find the underlying philosophy cogent.
(S. Silverstein/D. Locorriere)
I've got a couple more years on you, babe, and that's all
I've had more chances to fly, and more places to fall
And it ain't that I'm wiser, it's only that I've spent more time with my back to the wall
And I've picked up a couple more years on you, babe, and that's all
I've walked a couple more roads than you, babe, and that's all
And I'm tired of runnin' while you're only learning to crawl
And you're heading somewhere, but I've been to somewhere and found it was nowhere at all
And I've picked up a couple more years on you, babe, and that's all
Now saying goodbye girl, don't never come easy at all
But you've gotta fly 'cause you're hearing them young eagles call
And someday when you're older you'll smile at a man strong and tall
And you'll say I've got a couple more years on you, babe, and that's all
You'll say I've got a couple more years on you, babe, and that's all
I've had more chances to fly, and more places to fall
And it ain't that I'm wiser, it's only that I've spent more time with my back to the wall
And I've picked up a couple more years on you babe, and that's all.
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