No Other Life Project

I’ve always been taken by the concept of focusing on a single theme of discovery for a certain period of time. Of course that’s what school is all about, whether it be an elementary school class doing a “unit on” whatever or a tightly focused college course where you are meant to learn everything about one niche subject in 25 session hours or so (plus independent study and preparation). Once we’re out of our formal education though, we lose the “session hours” and are left with scattered hours of the independent study (for many, keeping up with the news or taking on a new hobby), often with no consideration that it is preparation for anything in particular. Some seek out book groups or film clubs while others just react to what is sent their way.

So, in 2023 I began thinking more formally about how the spirit of the academic life could help me to look at my life more clearly. I came upon a quote by Thoreau and it grabbed me.

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.

I felt as though Thoreau was speaking directly to me, living with Parkinson’s Disease where eternity is continually questioned and that island of opportunity feels like it passed us all by. It becomes too easy to say things like “I was going to make a difference” or “If only that hadn’t happened.”

That pattern of habitual inner speak can leave people feeling frozen. What we hoped for is clearly not here and may never come, we say to ourselves, so was it in vain? Is it a life never lived at all?

I said “No!” We’ve got our problems to deal with, you and me. There is much that can rightfully take over the personal news cycle. We may call today’s happenings good or bad but that can too often raise or lower our spirits too far off center when in effect, it’s really just that a bunch of stuff happened, we reacted to it somehow and now there’s other stuff.

By recognizing that we have “no other life”, we force ourselves to look at that life differently. Were you going to make a difference and did something unexpected happen? Could be, but you can still drive change, it just may be to a different audience or with different abilities. There’s no dress rehearsal. This is your life, what can you make of it?

Secondly, we can think about the phrase “no other life” as meaning that we are each completely unique in the world. You only need to think of a few defining characteristics of ourselves to realize that the life you lead is unique. All that you are, the things you feel good or bad about, are necessary to tell the story of you today. Learn more about yourself and own it all so that you can make that difference in the world that you originally dreamed of, before life got too real along the way.

So I decided to focus my thoughts on one topic and it began to feel like something I could truly figure out. I always say that there’s nothing you can’t figure out by thinking deeply. Season 1 was born. “New Beginnings” was what I hoped to understand more fully.

Through a focused spotlight introduction and a 12-episode podcast run, mixed with a variety of social posts I think I got myself there and hope it helped those following it all.

For the second outing, it’s all about discovering not only who we are but more importantly how we got there.

To the mix, I added a new podcast series which follows my own advice, taking a few things that make me unique and investing heavily in myself with reflections on music making as a method of dealing with Parkinson’s Disease. It’s easier to feel that “Pedey” is my overlord and I’m helpless in his clutches, but I find better things happen for me when I recognize “his” power and influence but then treat him only as a collaborator in this grand improvisation we call life.