"The older I get, the less I need."
Since the 2017 inception of this series, I've been on the lookout for terse lyrical phrases like that, words that are able to stand on their own, i.e., they're not dependent on the rhymes accompanying them to complete the thought. The lyric above - from a 2025 Mary Chapin-Carpenter song entitled Girl and Her Dog - satisfies those simple requirements. I've never been overly concerned about selecting lyrics that might strike others as capital "P" profound. For me, the most critical element is how well a lyric succinctly captures an essential and timeless truth. That is, are these words for the ages?
The essential truth of those eight words struck me almost from the moment I first heard Carpenter sing them. Then as weeks went by, a question - one even simpler than the lyric that prompted it - would not let me go. What do any of us really need? I decided then that any lyric reminding me of Abraham Maslow's groundbreaking work on the hierarchy of needs is clearly worth memorializing here, profound or not.
And that brought me full circle back to a central motivation for starting my blog fifteen+ years ago. From the start, I've aimed these reflections at the 98% of us who do not reside on either far end of the bell curve. We are neither fabulously famous nor we will ever end up in jail. We have more in common than not. We want to love and be loved. We want to take care of our families. We want to make a small difference in the world. We enjoy many of the same things. Those are the things I try to write about here - most of the time - hoping to engage you in some fashion.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs - Wikipedia
I totally agree with that statement about needing less as I get older. It might also be useful for younger folks to examine what they REALLY need. I gave it some thought periodically as I was younger, but perhaps in this case, more would have been better. A corollary is to be grateful for what you have. Thanks for igniting the fire of examining life, asserting core values, and appreciating the gifts we have.
ReplyDeleteInes; Thanks for your well-considered comment. I especially appreciate the affirmations you offered in your last sentence. Your support on this blog for over ten years has truly sustained me. BTW, this might be the first time you've ever commented on a post from this particular series of mine. It may be worthwhile for you to give a listen to this wonderful song; it's a gem and one I think you'd appreciate end-to-end.
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