I'm not always goal oriented. I don't run with the sharpest focus. I enjoy things that I notice happening along my route to the store or to work or just along a bike ride I do to keep fit. I try to stay open. Being too focused keeps you from seeing some random beauty that's inconspicuous, but there.
It's a great big world. It's counterintuitive to imagine it seeming bigger the closer you look or that there might be more to it if you slow down. Slowing down and looking closely are practically exercises in faith if you've spent your life skipping along at a high clip. It might be a mistake. There are places to go. There are things to do.
Sometimes you'll end up with something in your lap that makes the case for you, some magical event, some eyeopenner- not the kind of thing you can seek out, something that you just happen upon that relenses your view of the world, some unexpected adjustment in perspective.
There’s no route you can take to the place where you make a piece of art that’s effective. It'd be foolish to say things emerge from the ether. It'd be maybe just as foolish to claim some method gets you all the way there. A practice helps. But if it weren't for the occasional jolt from left field the art juice could run out. Every piece you make could be the last piece. It is worth leaning into the practice so that what does come out, comes out well done.
Todd Snyder said John Prine told him, Show ‘em what you got in your heart.
He just spoke plainly. “With a plain turn of phrase and a simple melody…” Todd said, about John in a song.
They're both gone now. All we get is what they left for us to hear.
It seems like it’ll go fine once you're going, but it never goes quite how you think. That's no reason to stop. It might just be a reason to slow down and look.
Tell em something simple. Show em what you've got in your heart. There's gonna be a wrinkle. Even if their ain't at the start. But as long as you're still on the ride, you ain't made it to the end of the line.
Go to bed feeling like Jesus. Wake up praying to god. I sure hope nobody sees us putting up this façade. As long as you're still on the ride, you ain't made it to the end of the line.
As long as you're still on the ride, you ain't made it to the end of the line.
Can't nobody save you if they can't get ahold of your hand. If there ain't a pro.ise you're a slave to then their ain't no promised land. As long as you're still on the ride, you ain't made it to the end of the line.
There'll be times you think you see the end around the corner, comin’.
As long as you're still on the ride, you ain't made it to the end of the line.
Steal a melody line from Willie like you're stealing a kiss from your girl. Play it for some wild eyed stranger who ain't never heard a lick from that world. As long as you're still on the ride, you ain't made it to the end of the line.
There'll be times you think you see the end around the corner, comin’.
As long as you're still on the ride, you ain't made it to the end of the line.
The world will move you. It's a ride. It's a rollercoaster. And you get to stay on til the end. And that's it.
Have a look. It's true. It's not even sad in and of itself, and all the endings feather into the beginnings of things we aren't going slow enough to see.
Don't feel obliged to take my advice. Your ride, no matter how slow you go and how many lives it touches is yours, right up until it ain't.
If you can hear my voice, it is likely you are still alive. And I for one am glad you are. And that's why I'm crying, that and I am sad. But I'm fine.
Next week, I'll tell you about the So So Sailors.
