A beach in northern Brazil. The year is 1997. I am seventeen years old and just about every aspect of that sprawling, unwieldy, vibrant green country has blown my small-town mind. I am on this beach with a group of teenaged Brazilians. It’s night time, it’s late. There is a fire, and we are sitting around it on sand still warm from the day’s sun. And then one of the guys produces a guitar. Logically the guitar must have been with him or near him but in my mind, he conjured that guitar from thin air. And as he struck the first chords of Bob Marley’s Coming in from the Cold, and every eye turned toward him, every female eye, in that moment I decided that I too would learn to play the guitar.
Ryan!! I absolutely love this missive and such a wise observation. I’m passing it on to my son (21) whom I think has unconsciously adopted this life philosophy.
Morning R. You might be on the airwaves. You immediately made me think about the subject of proficiency in light of time. You are talking about time in my experience of this essay. It collapses then you make the thing grow again. Amazing. I might go and do something new in Melbourne. Cheerio. M.
I am not sure if I would be on the floor with my hands over my ears together with the cats and dogs and elephants once I saw the guitar materialize, but if you broadcast what you write, I would text encouragement from all corners of the world.
Nice touch with the guitar. Maybe enjoy it when nobody is around. Just kidding haha. Whenever I think of Zorba, the first thing I think of is the quote "Are you married?" with the answer "Yes, a wife, children, the full catastrophe". I stuck with the guitar, and yes, the girls liked it, and the more they liked it, the less their boyfriends liked it. You can't win em all lol
Love the sentiment expressed here. I think of life as a buffet with a timed window for dining - the aim being to get a small but delicious taste of everything you can, in the time allotted.
How lyrically expressed. To live life as if one is to live forever or as if the end might be at any moment. Which are both degrees of living life fully. That moment when you were aged 17 on the north Brazilian beach - the moon above, the fire - the other young people - and the guitar player! So evocative. I was 27 in Madrid - a similar kind of feeling - I'd love to play the acoustic guitar. No money! But how I felt that tug to be able to do so. Aged 41 in Matsue, in Japan - a spring time garden event on the Castle Mount - two shakuhachi players - such truly haunting bamboo "flute" players. I'll die if I don't learn to play that breathless sound - I must. But further years down the track - even with a couple of willing teachers - my lips twist the wrong way - I'm one of that minority whose tongue refuses to curl - apparent I could not. I have a miniature koto - I could once pick out the Japanese tune of "Sakura" on it... so what I have done is at least try or think I might try - I once did an interview - or two - on radio - in Japan - in Japanese. An achievement...I love that you spent two hours in a studio speaking to yourself (even if there were many actually listening - not everyone feels the need to call in or to send a text - right?)- in the way that Phillip Adams addresses his sole listener! Such an amusing assumption - or joke, of course! Jim
Thanks for this! The brain loves novelty and the brain loves routine and in the middle we dance by the campfire and howl at the moon. Life is both long and short, isn’t it?
Ryan!! I absolutely love this missive and such a wise observation. I’m passing it on to my son (21) whom I think has unconsciously adopted this life philosophy.
Beautiful. Your writing really touches something deep inside
Morning R. You might be on the airwaves. You immediately made me think about the subject of proficiency in light of time. You are talking about time in my experience of this essay. It collapses then you make the thing grow again. Amazing. I might go and do something new in Melbourne. Cheerio. M.
I am not sure if I would be on the floor with my hands over my ears together with the cats and dogs and elephants once I saw the guitar materialize, but if you broadcast what you write, I would text encouragement from all corners of the world.
Keep plucking and writing Ryan. Brilliant.
know the broadcasting emotion, worked at 2MCE fm when it started at Bathurst in 1975...no one listening but God we had fun
Nice touch with the guitar. Maybe enjoy it when nobody is around. Just kidding haha. Whenever I think of Zorba, the first thing I think of is the quote "Are you married?" with the answer "Yes, a wife, children, the full catastrophe". I stuck with the guitar, and yes, the girls liked it, and the more they liked it, the less their boyfriends liked it. You can't win em all lol
Love the sentiment expressed here. I think of life as a buffet with a timed window for dining - the aim being to get a small but delicious taste of everything you can, in the time allotted.
How lyrically expressed. To live life as if one is to live forever or as if the end might be at any moment. Which are both degrees of living life fully. That moment when you were aged 17 on the north Brazilian beach - the moon above, the fire - the other young people - and the guitar player! So evocative. I was 27 in Madrid - a similar kind of feeling - I'd love to play the acoustic guitar. No money! But how I felt that tug to be able to do so. Aged 41 in Matsue, in Japan - a spring time garden event on the Castle Mount - two shakuhachi players - such truly haunting bamboo "flute" players. I'll die if I don't learn to play that breathless sound - I must. But further years down the track - even with a couple of willing teachers - my lips twist the wrong way - I'm one of that minority whose tongue refuses to curl - apparent I could not. I have a miniature koto - I could once pick out the Japanese tune of "Sakura" on it... so what I have done is at least try or think I might try - I once did an interview - or two - on radio - in Japan - in Japanese. An achievement...I love that you spent two hours in a studio speaking to yourself (even if there were many actually listening - not everyone feels the need to call in or to send a text - right?)- in the way that Phillip Adams addresses his sole listener! Such an amusing assumption - or joke, of course! Jim
Thanks for this! The brain loves novelty and the brain loves routine and in the middle we dance by the campfire and howl at the moon. Life is both long and short, isn’t it?
Love it mate, I so look forward to your email landing in my inbox every few weeks. Always gives me something to ponder. Thanks as always. Adam