Secret O' Life

Listen while you read:  JT Live!

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time
Any fool can do it, there ain't nothing to it
Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill
But since we're on our way down
We might as well enjoy the ride

The secret of life is in opening up your heart
It's okay to be afraid, but don't let that stand in your way
'Cause anyone knows that love is the only road
And since we're only here for awhile
Might as well show some style
Give us a smile

Isn't it a lovely ride?
Sliding down, gliding down
Try not to try too hard
It's just a lovely ride

Now the thing about time is that time isn't really real
It's just your point of view
How does it feel for you?
Einstein said he could never understand it all
Planets spinning through space
The smile upon your face
Welcome to the human race

Some kind of lovely ride
I'll be sliding down, I'll be gliding down
Try not to try too hard
It's just a lovely ride

~  James Taylor

James Taylor thought it was somewhat pretentious to be singing a song about the meaning of life. So he deliberately crafted the title of the song as a take-off on Lifesavers. You know, like "Wint-O-Green" or "Pep-O-Mint." "Secret O' Life." He says he wrote the song in ten minutes while sitting in sunlight at his home in Martha's Vineyard, figuring that the song had been living inside his guitar for years. "It came to me in a flash!" I find it somewhat prescient that he wrote a song about mindfulness before mindfulness was a thing. The song appears on his JT album from 1977.

Post road trip, I am still in a nostalgic mood. Today would have been my husband's 60th birthday, had he been able to beat cancer. He lost that battle almost fifteen years ago at the age of 45. This song resonates for me, as it was part of the soundtrack of those years when we tried desperately to make the most of whatever time we had left together. I cannot hear it without conjuring up a video in my head of the two of us in Pete's red 1973 MG convertible, gliding down some hilly backroad, enjoying the ride. Indeed, love was the only road.

As I always say about grief, it doesn't get easier. But you get more used to it. In the fifteen years that I have been widowed, I have managed (sometimes well, sometimes barely) to enjoy the passage of time. Although it took a dozen years, love found me again, once I opened my heart to it. There is wisdom in Taylor's admonition: Try not to try too hard. I am looking forward to the rest of the downhill ride.

So Happy Birthday, Pete, wherever you are. I'm okay here. Love you forever, babe.