Paul Simon and the Art of Owning Oneself

I recently had the privilege of seeing Paul Simon in concert. For those of you younger than me (probably most of you!), Paul Simon is one half of the duo that used to be Simon & Garfunkel.

He is now 84 years old and it was a tremendous privilege to watch him perform in Toronto recently. His music is introspective and very heartfelt… Just the kind of music that helps me to dig deeper into my own heart.

What was so moving to me about that evening was the soft vitality with which he carried himself and the graciousness with which he extended himself and his gift outwards.

I felt that he was modeling how to own his age, his being, his humanness, the privilege of being in the world for this special evening, connecting with all of us through his art. At the end of the evening, when his band had gone off stage and he stayed to sing Sounds of Silence, just him and his guitar, I felt like I was going to fall apart from the almost spiritual longing of that special moment.

So many of us are unhappy with who we are and, at the same time, feel disconnected from so many others. I think that what Paul Simon showed us was that special and vibrant relationship between really owning ourselves just as we are, and how connected we feel to the rest of the world when we do that.

Thanks for listening to my musings!

Peter