Yosemite
Fuck this!
That’s what John Muir said after being blinded in an industrial accident. A file pierced his eye and he thought his vision was history. But after a month in a darkened room, his vision returned and he walked from Indiana to Florida.
I know, I know, that was a hundred years ago. More, actually. But that’s not the point. The question is, are you working with your head or heart? At some point you’ve got to stop being who your parents want you to be and start being who you are.
I hadn’t been to Yosemite since 1973. Not much has changed. That’s how it is with the physical world. It outlasts us. We’re just a blip in time. We think we’re forever, but despite all the hosannas, even Michael Jackson’s music will soon be forgotten. It’s not human nature, it’s Mother Nature!
Yosemite is an amusement park of the mind. Rather than going on rides, being turned upside down by mechanical contraptions, you look at the landscape and your mind does somersaults. How did this happen? It’s hard to imagine a glacier that creates Half Dome, and how can El Capitan be almost perfectly vertical?
At the visitor center near Yosemite Falls there’s a bit of cell service. But you get no e-mail on your BlackBerry, you’re disconnected from everything deemed important. You’re placed in natural perspective. We’re here for such a very short time. What do we want to do, what do we want to accomplish?
Money won’t help you if you’re hiking in Tuolomne Meadows and it starts to rain. Rich people get no better view from Glacier Point than poor. In Yosemite, we’re all in it together.
On a nature walk behind the Ahwahnee Hotel, the ranger told us the John Muir story. It’s stuck with me. It’s shown me that those Americans not on the cover of "Us", not featured in the "Forbes" 500 are not losers, but in many cases winners. Money is not the only priority. You need it to live, but how much?
Would you rap if there was no Biggie, no Jay-Z?
Would you play the guitar if there was no Eddie Van Halen?
Would you be in the music business if David Geffen hadn’t made all that money?
If not, give up. Please. You’re hurting yourself. And you’ll leave no lasting mark.
But if you need to play, don’t lament that you’re not a millionaire. The music should be enough. If you’ve got a roof over your head, if you can pay the bills, you’re on the map. Affecting a coterie deeply is more important than being a momentary comet, burning brightly and then flaming out.
So don’t do what you should do, do what you want to do. Even if your chosen field is not perceived to be a road to riches. Who knew all those chefs would become stars on the Food Network? Who knew you could make a career in extreme sports? Who knew gaming would outstrip both music and movies in revenue?
I’m not saying to forgo an education. Fundamentals are important. Only by establishing a foundation do you have a place to build.
It’s time to establish your own independence. To make your own decisions. So when you’re on your deathbed, surrounded by loved ones who will soon reach their demise also, you’ve got no regrets.
