The Two Adventures

Michael Meade, that wise old storyteller and spokesperson for the Soul and latent genius inside each and every one of us, wrote these words in a recent Blog: 

 

“Yet the deep psyche has a better design than the ego’s plan, the family’s requirements, or the culture’s map. 

 

That sentence already stopped me in my tracks. My parents were generous in granting me the freedom to follow my own calling, but it clearly was different from what they and my aunts and uncles and eventually cousins chose to do and think. Those iconic books of my late teens—Walden, Catcher in the Rye, Catch 22, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, How Children Fail, The Wisdom of Security, for starters, made it clear that the path I was seeking was not to be found on my mainstream culture’s map. The ego’s plan took more time to put in its proper place and is described by Meade as “the first adventure that involves the pursuit of happiness and the recognition that comes from outer accomplishments.”An apt description of my life from young adult to past middle age.

 

But that’s not the end of the story. If we’re alert and luck to live long enough “the second adventure of life involves the fulfillment of the inner longings and hidden destiny of the soul…it aims at a path that leads beyond the concerns of the daily world, yet it is of great importance for the continuance of that world… It involves stepping off the common pathways and going off the map that others have given us. The second adventure leads to the pursuit of wisdom, the kind of transcendent knowledge that enlivens individual life, nourishes genuine community, and helps re-create culture.”

 

The half-century plus of going off the map into the less-traveled roads of three authentic practices—Orff, Zen and Jazz—has certainly enlivened my individual life and sought to do the same for others. All three have blossomed in the fertile soil of community and sought to create and enrich community wherever I may be. And all three have something to offer a re-envisioning of a healing, healthful, joyful and sustainable culture. All have required some small measure of sacrifice, exile and difficulty of constantly swimming upstream, but the rewards have been far greater than the challenges. And continue to be.

 

After another gratifying day at school, going from the fresh, joyful, confidence of the 3-year-olds to more-cautious-to-take-risks 8^th graders, but willing to follow my strategies to unleash their jazz improvisational selves (and with great results in a mere 15 minutes!), I’m feeling how the two adventures of my life are joined at the hip. The willful accomplishments of my younger years always fertilized communities and enriched many children’s and teacher’s (but realistically, not necessarily all!) lives and did their best to create a culture with depth and heart. Especially teaching back in my old music room, side-by-side at Singing Time again with Sofia, I don’t feel a clear before or after or massive wood door dividing the two adventures. It’s all one glorious yellow brick road with the promise of Oz in each step of the way.