Is that all there is...

The other day I was driving home from work when I listened to a feature on an artist called Peggy Lee on NPR. They were playing one of her songs, "Is that all there is ?". The song was beautiful and I found myself mesmerized, but the question stuck to me.

Is that all there is? Is this all there is to my life? Dont get me wrong. I am really comfortable where I am right now. Life is moving fine, I like my work and I have things to do with my free time. But what is that which defines my life.
To quote the song

"Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is"

What I am trying to say is that we get so used to what we are doing that life becomes mundane. We become saturated with the nonstop similarity of our experiences. There is a million lifetime's worth of experiences out there for us and I am experiencing barely a handful.

And the funny thing is that it need not be the exotic. I went to Goa, and the memory that comes to mind is not the gorgeous beaches, but the god-awful busride, with Sandy singing the haunting song from Jal, Aadat. The simple stroll in the park, the local community centre play with the surprisingly good act, the never failing sunset, anything that breaks you out of the mould, a break from the ordinary sameness.

My lifes waiting to be lived so it shall be. I will make time to get away from the ordinary. It may be skydiving tomorrow, or the visit to State Park the day after, or just the jog at the lake. But I will make the effort to learn something new, do something new, experience something new. I will break out the booze and have a ball, but that, my friend, is not all there is.