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November 2022

Life Lesson

Les Marcott | Scene4 Magazine | www.scene4.com

Les Marcott

There will come a time perhaps in your life in which you come to the jarring realization that you have spent a lifetime fighting other people's battles, if not all out wars.  And let's face it, they were all petty.  You have been subjected to other people's agendas, punched their timeclocks, ran their errands, lived their dreams vicariously as yours withered and died on the vine.  You may have served God, you may have served the devil, or you may have served Mr. Spacely from the old Jetson's cartoon show.  As Mr. Robert Zimmerman once proclaimed, "You Gotta Serve Somebody". You survived but lost yourself in the process.

You have done your best to keep up with the Jones's, you've competed with the Cooper's.  You schemed against the Schmidt's. And all the while you claimed you were trying to escape to a simpler place like Luckenbach, Texas "back to the basics of love".  You made a few bucks, but not enough to live in the fast lane.  You always looked for the exit ramp that led to the Freedom Highway but ended up going round and round your circle driveway waving goodbye.  Find yourself as the dad in the Harry Chapin song, The Cat's In The Cradle. And as the song says, your kids will grow up just like you- striving, reaching for the mirage of upward mobility, but neglecting those closest to them.  We are like ships passing in the night.  Sleep if it comes is uneasy, it's the tossing, the turning, the constant worrying, the grinding and gnashing of teeth that torments us.  Shoulda.  Coulda, Woulda.  Regrets?  You ponder them while playing your cello on the deck of the Titanic.

Because there will come a day as the aging singer in Amanda decries, "I looked in the mirror in total surprise, at the hair on my shoulder and the age in my eyes".  Wisdom does come with age, but as a wise philosopher once pointed out – youth is wasted on the young. You're old now, driving up to a handicapped parking spot at a desolate mall you remember from your youth.  You see a young man appearing out of nowhere – full of vim, vigor, vitality, creative energy with the whole world in front of him.  You check the obituaries to make sure you're not listed there. 

 

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Les Marcott | Scene4 Magazine | www.scene4.com

Les Marcott is a songwriter, musician, performer and a Senior Writer and columnist for Scene4.  For more of his commentary and articles, check the Archives.

©2022 Les Marcott
©2022 Publication Scene4 Magazine

 

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November 2022

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