This old song by Carly Simon has been running through my head for a few days, especially the refrain, and the last lines, “These are the good old days.”
We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway
And I wonder if I’m really with you now
Or just chasin’ after some finer day
Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin’ me late
Is keepin’ me waitin’
And I tell you how easy it feels to be with you
And how right your arms feel around me
But I, I rehearsed those words just late last night
When I was thinkin’ about how right tonight might be
Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin’ me late
Is keepin’ me waitin’
And tomorrow we might not be together
I’m no prophet and I don’t know nature’s ways
So I’ll try and see into your eyes right now
And stay right here ’cause these are the good old days
And stay right here ’cause these are the good old days
(These are the good old days)
(These are the good old days)
(These are the good old days)
(These are the good old days)
I am a Carly Simon fan so I have listened to this song many, many times. I googled the lyrics this morning and as I re-read them, this is the first time I realized that lyrics are about mindfulness – staying in the present moment.
We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway
Wow – this definitely describes me only now I know even less about the days to come.
The singer realizes that she wastes so much time anticipating her future she doesn’t appreciate her present. In this verse, she realizes, she can’t see the future so she’d better stay fully in the present:
I’m no prophet and I don’t know nature’s ways
So I’ll try and see into your eyes right now
And stay right here ’cause these are the good old days
A friend of mine, who also writes blogs, asked a group of us what is giving us hope during these times as she was having difficulty.
I answered:
I’m not sure if it’s giving me hope, but the only thing that’s keeping me sane is staying in the present moment. I teach mindfulness, but I have a real tendency to live in the future, making plans, writing to-do lists, creating project milestones, etc. And I’ve learned over the last few weeks that those plans can go up in smoke in a moment. I suppose if something gives me hope it’s been watching my daughter, who’s been planning her dream wedding for nine months, cancel it, and dive into making her backyard ceremony as meaningful and beautiful as can be.
She’s even sewing masks in material that will match the cloth napkins. We keep commenting that “this will be something to tell your grandchildren.” So that brings up the question, will we someday look upon this time as the good old days – the way we get nostalgic for the “greatest generation” the group of men and women who survived the depression and WWII. They did what they had to, rose to the challenge, and kept on going through tragic and scary times. What we remember is their resilience, their ingenuity, their courage. We’re living through tragic, scary times, and I hope we’ll one day remember the resilience, the ingenuity and the courage of this generation. In the meantime, “I’m going to stay right here, because these are the good old days.”