LISTEN ON REPEAT

March 2nd, 2020

Some songs hit you, and strike such a satisfying emotional chord that you just have to listen to it again, and again, and again.

Sure you can overdo it.  But give it some time, a couple months or maybe even a couple years, and it’s no surprise that we’re ready for another dose.

It’s interesting to try and think about life in this way.  What sort of life would you have to create so that you’d want to repeat it over and over and enjoy it all?

Much of our time is spent waiting for better circumstances.  Whether we are working in order to have time off, or more money or both, much of human life is spent mired in the conviction that it could be better.

There are two ways to approach this potentially depressing framing.

Either we change our mindset about the given moment, and like someone cast in the role of student for a zen parable, we can challenge our mindset to find a way to smile despite the slings and arrows of limp fortune.  That is certainly a worthy undertaking and there’s plenty of opportunity to hone your character into that role.

The other approach is to shake things up and start approaching one’s own insecurities with a bit more skepticism and even recklessness. 

In can help to talk to yourself as though you’re the main character in a movie about you.  In fact, that’s exactly what you are. 

Oh, you’re nervous you might fail if you go after that interesting idea?  Well I don’t care, I’m bored of this rerun you’ve got going.  I want to see something more interesting.

It takes courage to act upon curiosity.

But this creates a kind of forward looking.  Thinking about creating a life that you’d love to repeat creates a forward reflectiveness that gives you more reason to pause.  It makes you more likely to take action that you’ll be less likely to regret. 

Actions that you’ll be proud to see if you were to sit back in a movie theatre all your own and watch your life again through your own eyes.