I developed a new-found appreciation for Yacht Rock, after watching this documentary that talked about the musicianship of groups like Steely Dan, Toto and The Doobie Brothers. I had no idea of their jazz underpinnings or their profound influence on so many other groups and music.
Similarly, while I had heard of the storytelling organization The Moth and listened to one or two of their stories over the years, I now have a new-found interest in their work after reading the book The Moth Presents A Point in Beauty True Stories of Holding on and Letting Go. I have found myself alternatively laughing out loud and shedding a few tears in hearing people share profound pieces of their lives in just a few pages.
Last week, our family rewatched the memorable Little House on the Prairie episode where Mary Ingalls loses her eyesight. There was a subplot where the town is facing ruin due to the railroads. A friend checks in on Charles, who is devastated by his daughter’s pain and loss and says that there was a time when the the town’s situation would be the sole focus of all his energies but now he doesn’t care at all. Concluding, “I look back and wonder how much of my life, I’ve spent worrying about things that don’t really matter now.” A new-found perspective on what’s important.
On a lesser scale, I recently took a hard look at all of my various work and creative projects. With a more honest assessment captured on a handful of index cards, I left with a new-found focus on how to spend my time and attention moving forward.
Finally, as I laid in bed last night thinking about this post I would write today, I thought of the Canadian province Newfoundland, where members of my family settled a hundred years ago. To that point, I hadn’t realized the obvious origin of the name. New-found land. A new-found realization for me.
These examples may seem trivial but as we approach a season where we will be buying new things or planning new experiences for the new year, there is plenty of new to be found all around us. A new-found appreciation for someone we love, a new-found understanding of something that has vexed us, a new-found contentment for what we have or new-found courage or confidence to do what we can to make our lives or world better – to name just a few.
The beauty of these new-found gifts is that they keep giving. New-found anything suggests discovery. And as Proust once wrote, “The real voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in seeing with new eyes.” Once you see things with new eyes, it usually changes the way you see them forever.
Like the way, I’ll forever see Yacht Rock.
Recommendation of the week: I listened to Steely Dan’s Aja album in it entirety for the first time. Some have called the best sounding album of all time. I’m not enough of a music aficionado to make that call, but it is definitely worth the listen.