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Musings Report 2022-3 1-15-22 Growing Up and Growing Old: Keith Richards
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Growing Up and Growing Old: Keith Richards
You may have seen photos such as this one of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, referring to the meme that Richards' life of drugs and rock-n-roll should have done him in long ago, and so his longevity is out of this world:
(Here's the story behind him falling out of a tree):
The life-affirming moment Keith Richards fell out of a tree
Richards clearly has a bit of wear and tear at 78, but as he notes in this quote attributed to him, "I'm blessed with being sort of physically robust."
What struck me as worthy of exploration were his comments on growth being integral to life: we continue to grow until the moment of death.
"Every day is a pleasure. I mean, I don’t wish to defy anybody's predictions (about his demise) and I’m really not interested in them. But I'll croak when I croak and everybody will know.
And apart from that, I’d like to live another 20 years or something. I could handle that. I mean, I'm blessed with being sort of physically robust. And what you realise when you get older is, you never stop growing up. You can let other people think you’re grown up, with all this wisdom -- 'Yes, that’s right, my son' -- but, you know, that's only because they’re younger than you, so you can lay that on them.
Obviously, I have got a bit wiser, I’ve learned a bit more about pacing myself. But other than that, I don’t think you stop growing until they start shoveling the dirt in."
At 68, I am amazed at how little I've learned but grateful I'm still learning.
As for wisdom, Richards observes that what passes for wisdom is often just the accumulation of experience.
I'm also reminded that in terms of navigating economic life, advice from elders is often outdated and slightly comical to younger generations navigating much faster-moving and more insecure waters.
When my sister was climbing the corporate ladder in the 90s, our long-retired father's advice came from the era depicted in the series "Mad Men" when managers had their own private secretaries, corporations rewarded loyalty, etc.
Any advice that might be useful has to be timeless, and even that advice runs into the reality that most of us only learn from our own experience--being told something doesn't embed the lessons learned like bitter experience.
As Oscar Wilde put it, "Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."
Wilde had this to say about advice: "I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself."
I don't see growth as inevitable; it helps to seek it. If we're not growing up as we grow old, we're missing out.
Fellow guitarists will note Richard's Fender Telecaster has only five strings rather than the conventional six, and most of the fretboard wear is down on the first three frets, as opposed to the higher frets around the octave (12th fret).
And here's a pre-Telecaster Richards with a Gibson Les Paul:
It's not just wear and tear, it's growth.
Highlights of the Blog
posts:
The Real Revolution Is Underway But Nobody Recognizes It 1/12/22
The Real Threat to Democracy is Corrupting Wealth Inequality 1/10/22
Best Thing That Happened To Me This Week
A close cousin brought his two grandkids by for another visit, and we recruited the kids to harvest and peel poha berries.
The grand-daughter (3.5 years old) wanted to watch TV so I told her our TV doesn't have anything good so we spend time in our yard. On previous visits I'd taken her out to explore the yard with the goal of collecting flowers. Here's an arrangement of flowers she collected, with very little assistance from me.
From Left Field
NOTE TO NEW READERS: This list is not comprised of articles I agree with or that I judge to be correct or of the highest quality. It is representative of the content I find interesting as reflections of the current zeitgeist. The list is intended to be perused with an open, critical, occasionally amused mind.
Volcanologists warn world is unprepared for next major eruption (via Cheryl A.) -- one Little Ice Age can ruin your whole day...
Welcome to the end of democracy: A rising tide of money and administrative power defines the rising autocracy by Joel Kotkin (via BrandonRox10)
After the Beanie Baby bubble burst: What happens when the frenzy ends and the world doesn’t value your valuables? (via GFB)
41 Inconvenient Truths on the "New Energy Economy" -- #42: magical thinking being passed off as optimism....
$2.7 Billion in Credit Default Swaps Blew Up One Day Before the Fed Launched Its Repo Loan Bailouts in 2019--the start of the final bubble...
Study Finds 1 in 10 Healthcare Workers with Mild COVID Have Lasting Symptoms
Can Coronavirus Cause Heart Damage?
Intestinal bacteria could be behind Japan's low COVID deaths, study says
Bacteria Subsisting on Antibiotics
Our Rolling Civil War-- drumbeat of civil war rising...
Why the U.S. Military Isn’t Ready for Civil War: A significant portion of Americans seek the destruction of political authority. What if they succeed?
Rural America not ready for electric vehicles
"One's real life is so often the life that one does not lead." Oscar Wilde
Thanks for reading--
charles |
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