"You may ask yourself, am I right, am I wrong? You may say to yourself, my God! what have I done?" From Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads
I have recently discovered my life amounts to a score on a spreadsheet - and guess what... I don't get the perfect score. Because of that, I am now officially without character and can only do shady little deals on the side as normal doors are now officially closed. I'd like to point out I am not a criminal, nor have I done anything the law says is illegal, however there is a spreadsheet somewhere that says if you don't score perfection - you are out.
I don't know when it became a prerequisite to be perfect but undoubtedly it is - I can't change that I guess it is what it is. Perfection is no longer a bench mark to aim for, it is what we all are supposed to be from the get go. I think I was busy living my totally imperfect life to have noticed when the rule changed.
It has been highlighted to me often over past days that in this society at least, we are supposed to hit the ground running as faultless and continue in that vein till the finish line.
Again, I was too busy living my life of flaws to notice that not only had the rule changed but help is available to those who were late adhering to the rule. There is a whole industry out there instructing lesser mortal how to achieve perfection, how to get a flawless character, flawless appearance, flawless life. Just go into any bookshop, turn on your television or talk to anyone you know. We are a self improvement society, perfection must be demonstrated at all times and if you can't be perfection then you should at least fake it till you make it - facades of perfection are more palatable than demonstrations of falling short. No one wants to see that! We are now as a society officially intolerant to flaws in our judgement process. I guess that makes me a royal screw up then. For I am far from perfect in this area. I always have been guess I always will be.
When I grew up, mistakes were seen as opportunities to learn, to improve, to get better. Sometimes it was the flaws in a persons character that made them characterful, that made them what they were... we were more accepting. forgiving, accommodating. One thing for sure we were more able to determine the character of a person by contextualizing - honour and valour being something past conduct alone could illustrate and could only be assessed beyond the columns of a spreadsheet.
But there's no room for that now. To be a worthwhile person you have to demonstrate that you hit the ground running perfect.
To demonstrate this, ones lifetime should show that you have always been spreadsheet minded for the short term, the long term and all the terms between - that you have always been painting the bigger picture and have ensured that any one sample removed and viewed even out of context reveals the same broad picture of total and utter perfection:
- One should never be at a loss.
- One should never be overwhelmed.
- One should never find yourself feel like a Talking Heads song and find yourself uttering: "Well how did I get here?"
Perfection. - A lifetime of saying the right thing at the right time to the right person.
- A demonstration of having the right accessories for the right lifestyle .
- A flawless record of doing the right things with the right people:
- So that it is proven that you always, always, always...
- ...have been walking up the right path at all times, knowing the right destination is where you will be.
Perfection demands that no curve balls will beseech you and that nothing will wrong foot you.
This is the rule, and the reward is that your life will be perfect and you would never have made a mistake by simply:
Letting the days go by.
Over to you David Byrne:
Once in a Lifetime:
[Songwriters: David Byrne/Christopher Frantz/Tina Weymouth/Jerry Harrison/ Brian Eno/Peter George]
You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
You may find yourself in another part of the world
You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
You may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife
You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
You may ask yourself, how do I work this?
You may ask yourself, where is that large automobile?
You may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful house
You may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful wife
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Water dissolving and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water, carry the water
Remove the water from the bottom of the ocean
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, into silent water
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
You may ask yourself, what is that beautiful house?
You may ask yourself, where does that highway lead to?
You may ask yourself, am I right, am I wrong?
You may say to yourself, my god, what have I done?
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, into silent water
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Time isn't holding us, time isn't after us
Time isn't holding us, time doesn't hold you back
Time isn't holding us, time isn't after us
Time isn't holding us...
Letting the days go by, letting the days go by, letting the days go by, once in a lifetime (?)
Letting the days go by, letting the days go by, letting the days go by, once in a lifetime
It is unforgivable in today's society to have ever even just once in a lifetime, been anything less than perfect.
There is no column for that on the spreadsheet of judgment.
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