Any port will do in a storm.
“All I can say is that my life is pretty plain.”
In other words, what does a life well lived consist of?
Any individual who has lived more than half a century on this planet has the humility not to underestimate a trip around the world with great love and a lot of money, as these things do not guarantee any satisfaction, and at the same time, recognize that none of these factors are above of each person’s volatile, untimely and eternally distressed well-being.
Once working at a small store somewhere across the beach, a guy came in and told me he had $7 to buy something to eat — and asked if he could afford anything to eat there. I said yes — while playing No Rain over the speaker — and it made him so happy too.
He told me that reminded him of the bee girl in this video — it made my whole day too. When I brought him the food I could tell he hadn’t had hot food in quite a long time.
So, I would say a life well lived is experiencing the freshness of contact with someone indifferent to social conventions[1] — but first of all, don’t disrupt other people’s lives. If human beings learn this — for me — they will live very well and are already on the first step of the ladder to holiness.
There is a theory by Chesterton — a well-known English writer — that says never to destroy something, change a rule, or alter a tradition if you do not understand the reasons that led to its creation. This principle forces you to think twice before changing something.
Back to the new friend: He ended up telling me he was chronically homeless after serving in the military and that this song reminded him of better times.
After all, everybody is — or will be — a rebel without a protective clause.
