In the middle of the ocean, there are no landmarks

Today's traditio comes later than I'd planned. It's okay. As I grow older, I laugh at myself for being harsh with myself for not completing all the tasks I set for myself in the time I allot to get it done. It's not like on any given day I don't get quite a bit completed.

This is kinda what this week's traditio is about. It isn't explicitly and maybe not implicitly. It is about what we've come to collectively call "resiliency." It is John Lennon who's usually credited with saying "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." These words appear in the lyrics of Lennon's song "Beautiful Boy." Apparently, it first appeared in a 1957 Reader's Digest article written by Allen Saunders.

I can't speak or write for most people and probably not even for a sizeable majority, only for myself. The observation about life strikes me as true.

Last night I went to an outdoor concert with a dear friend. We saw/heard Squeeze, a very underrated band from my youth. Opening for Squeeze was Colin Hay. Hay, a Scotsman, most famous for his band Men At Work was their opening act. He is a very underrated artist. Using a word my friend used to describe Hay's large body of solo work, his set was "gorgeous." What I think was the second song of his set last night, "Waiting For My Real Life to Begin," is our traditio. I think what is resonating with me today, especially in light of the losses I've endured this summer, is that life moves us inexorably forward.

I've always liked the metaphor of my life as a ship sailing the ocean. The thing about looking behind a ship in the middle of the ocean is that all you see is the wake. In clear conditions, if you follow the ripple of the water made by the ship's passage through it far enough, the wake disappears too. In the middle of the ocean, there are no landmarks.

True, Hay's song is not about being on a ship but waiting ashore for his ship to come in. I guess I would say that you're already on the ship that is your life, especially if, like me, you're in middle age. So, stand on the bow and feel the spray of the ocean. What is still to be determined is where your ship is ultimately headed. You see, sailing the ocean on a ship is perhaps the farthest thing from a dead-end imaginable. Plus, what ports do you want to visit on your journey? You can bet there are perils awaiting.