Monday, May 5, 2025
The love affair with “there and later” starts in preschool, which is mere preparation for kindergarten. Kindergarten prepares you for elementary school. Elementary school prepares you for middle school. Middle school prepares you for high school. High school prepares you for college. College prepares you for graduate school. Graduate school prepares you for a job. A job prepares you for retirement. Retirement prepares you for what … the end?
Finally there! The grave. Does retirement prepare you for decline of health and ultimate death? What is death preparing you for, then? Seems like there might be an afterlife. Is the afterlife preparing you for something? To do it all over again? When do we step off of the wheel of preparation?
I spent 50 years in preparation. For what? To get there? Young people don’t understand, there is no “there.” “There” is nowhere to be. “There” is nothing to do. “There” is no culminating experience. It’s all transitory, so it’s all joyful, peaceful, and OK now. Many people can’t live comfortably with this strange, seemingly naive way to live – perpetual ongoingness. But it’s true, the further you go, the further there is to go. “Here” is where it’s at. “Now” is when it is.
I was always amazed at how much better I could get at practicing music and never “get there.” That’s life. It’s mercifully ongoing. But that tortures some, not being able to “get there.” Is that cruel, to dangle the carrot like that? No – it’s relieving that I cannot attain. I am unlimited. I’ll never be able to reach, so I might as well give up attainment and experience the joy of practice. Get snug and cozy, and you’ll love living in joyful perpetuity. It takes practice to enjoy here and now. There is no “there” or “later” to enjoy. We must overcome this illusion of “getting there.”