Time to think
Epiphanies are great. Even the word sounds like a drug. Maslow called them peak experiences and they sit there right at the top of the pyramid. They are the brief and transient (perhaps transcendental) states of consciousness you reach after temporarily escaping your mundane, everyday life.
I was reminded of this upon hearing of the passing of Mike Nesmith. Although I never met him, I expect that Mike had a few of these. I suspect he was really an epiphany factory — perhaps experiencing peak experiences daily. As one commentator on YouTube wrote, he was so far ahead of things he got windburn. Admittedly maybe he’s not to everyone’s taste but personally, I dug it. (No, not the world’s biggest potato.)
Many years ago I remember rushing back to my run-down, $22 per-week student flat with a bottle of Coke and Milky bar to make sure we caught the beginning of Television Parts.
The first time we saw it we were shocked and awed. It seemed to not follow any logical trajectory. Whiplash comedy that made you question even as you cried with laughter. It's just like the alien said, "What's the plot guys?".
It was a similar feeling when I first saw the Cruisin' video, years before MTV. Bizarre, unexplainable, funny.
I miss those days but they lie in the back of my mind and make me glad to remember.
Do you ever think back to the moments that define who you became? Those incidental, at the time unimportant things. Just sitting with a friend, talking, joking and watching TV. Or driving on the weekends, meeting up with friends and hanging out. Before the internet. Before mobile phones. No, you probably don’t. I wonder then, are the epiphanies going too? When all our time is consumed and wrapped in social commentary, the urge to record and captivated by the huge wave of media that is everywhere. There has been an explosion of high-quality content and now there is so much to read, listen to and watch, which is awesome, but...
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When I was a kid we had books and two channels of TV. Superman, Mash, Coronation Street and The Goodies.
And plenty of time to play after dinner. Flashlight, four-square, round the campfire or solo tennis against a practice wall. Epiphanies were few even then, beyond the occasional flicker of self-awareness. Watching Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock at high school was a gift that lasted. At the time I really couldn’t imagine men marrying other men. It seemed impossible. Future shock was amazingly prescient for the early 70's considering no one had seen a personal computer — the very combination of terms was an oxymoron, like gay marriage.
Now I believe there should be a new school subject: Future. The corresponding subject to History. It’s like the old joke, “I thought about studying history but I didn’t see a future in it.” Some people disagree with me, saying that it cannot be graded. Too much ambiguity. Possibly, but do we think enough about the future? Aren’t planning and forecasting equally as important as learning from our mistakes — when we so often don’t? And yes, there are bound to be mistakes. Toffler didn’t get it all right. Perfect predictability would be a terrible thing but not knowing the future is not the same as pretending it will take care of itself. With global climate change, pandemics and wars on the horizon shouldn’t we at least try to anticipate and act in advance? The share market is like an alcoholic father; not one we should trust to keep our best interests at heart.
On a personal level, childhood play gives way to a reality of exams, new relationships, break-ups, jobs, finding a place to live, and raising one’s own family. More unpredictability. Seldom planned or following a well-defined structure. As Toffler foresaw, the most important thing is to learn how to learn — and unlearn.
So what’s the message here, what is the learning? I am not entirely sure but to make space for epiphanies is my suggestion. Don’t crowd and fill your life with so much that there is no room left for revelation. Don’t pursue your career at the expense of your own happiness and health. Don’t value money and possessions above learning and leave time for those quiet moments of reflection that sometimes, if you are lucky, provide a brief glimpse of reality or the future that makes you smile and say Aha!
Sad to see you go Mike. I bet you'll be back. The world needs more people like you and more time to laugh and think.
