This summer, I set myself a few goals:
1. Learn to swim
2. Learn to play bass guitar
3. Reconnect with old friends
4. Like Steely Dan
5. Understand quantum gravity
Of course they all should have read “Begin to…”. Each an ongoing endeavor, with the opportunity to plateau, backslide, or continue to take it further.
Along with languages, I had pretty much established by my late teens that swimming and playing an instrument weren’t my thing. Not necessarily by giving it my all and failing, but just figuring that wasn’t what I could do, after discouraging early experiences. I got to grips with Spanish in my early twenties and have started to make a little headway in the pool and the practice studio.
So lesson number 1 from this summer: It’s never too late to start.
I’ve made progress with Steely Dan too. Many people’s favorite band, I’d never “got” them. After a summer of Aja, Can’t Buy a Thrill, Pretzel Logic and Countdown to Ecstasy, we were off to the races.
And then Walter Becker, one half of the core of Steely Dan, dies. So I’ll never get to see them live.
Lesson 2 of the summer: Start before it’s too late.
To quantum gravity. Carlo Rovelli has an amazing ability to lead you to believe that you understand theoretical physics. While you’re reading it. Don’t ask me to explain any of it. But everything hangs together when he has my attention. Quantum gravity aims to reconcile the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics. Hard to do.
In the same territory of conundrum on the most foundational issues of our existence, how to reconcile lessons 1 and 2 from this summer?
The Specials got it: “Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think”.
And I recommend that you make a start on Steely Dan. And give those old friends a call.