Surprises…

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By Radical Rhymes

I saw something this week, a documentary about a lost musician of the 1970s, a genius, a man who should have been a worldwide phenomenon but who disappeared without a trace. Or at least that is the way it seemed. Searching for Sugar Man is the title. If you haven’t seen it, then please do. It is a fabulous story.

It’s a surprise. I thought I was watching it with a clear idea about the outcome, but it quickly became clear that my assumptions, my expectations, were wrong. Completely, beautifully, joyously wrong.

My mistake was a fortuitous one. I was lost in a fog of misery and I watched it hoping (I use that word advisedly) to have my misery compounded. In that the film spectacularly failed. It lifted me, it gave me hope. The conclusion was not a tragedy but a triumph. Not of the Disney kind, but of the human spirit. There is success but it is not of the ‘American Dream’ variety.

And that got me to thinking about life and the lessons I’ve tried to teach my sons. I’ve frequently told them that things sometimes, no, frequently, do not turn out as we fear. Too often I’ve fretted about how something will play out, or how someone will react to bad news I’ve had to deliver. Horrible scenes that culminate in conflict that causes irreversible harm. Even the conflict leaves me cold to be absolutely honest.

You know the scenarios. The meeting full of people I don’t particularly like about things I don’t care about have actually been productive. Friends and allies materialised in spaces I did not expect. Parties – one of my pet hates – have been wonderful times spent with like-minded people. The bad news was taken with humility, and at times, gratitude, especially where my intentions were right.

Don’t misunderstand me, this is not a Panglossian belief that all ends well, or that we live in the best of all possible worlds. I have enough experience of hurting others and being hurt by them to know that simply isn’t the case. However, what I am trying to underline is that expectations and fears are very often without foundation.

And that means we suffer all the anxiety and anticipation of disaster for nothing. Or sometimes we suffer twice. We anticipate the horror long before it manifests and then we live it again.

What this fabulous documentary reminded me, at a moment when I needed the reminder is that life is not predictable, that when you think it will bite you it feeds you. Alternatively, when you believe it will soothe you it shakes you hard enough for your teeth to rattle.

I suppose the bottom line of this short piece is to try and move away from the past, it has stuff to teach you but if you live there exclusively and let it’s pain colour your present, that is a waste of precious life. Similarly, it doesn’t help us to think too far ahead. What we fear may never happen, or we may enhance a coming ordeal.

Live for the surprise. And, if you have nothing particular to do today, watch Searching for Sugar Man, you will not be disappointed…

Radical Rhymes is a professional artist working with a range of media – predominantly animal/human portraits and landscapes – including, most recently, hand painted furniture. You can see his work on Instagram Radicalrhymes1969 or on Twitter @RhymesRadical.

For commissions, please contact him on Twitter via Direct Message or by email at: radicalrhymes@outlook.com His work is also available to buy on Etsy

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