Loss is Change

The recent demise of Prince demonstrated to me just how distant I am from the world of pop culture. The man was barely a blip on my musical radar. As are most pop icons, now or past.

I understand why some feel a loss. These people become a part of our life. But isn’t the music still there, the music that said something to us once? The world goes on. We go on.

Perhaps Prince or B.B. King or Kurt Cobain would have made more music that held meaning for us. Or perhaps their time had passed anyway. Does it ultimately matter? We can not lose what we never had.

That’s a popular paraphrase of something Marcus Aurelius wrote nearly two thousand years ago (and others most likely before him). He said also that loss is nothing but change. Life must change, after all.

No, I did not know much of Prince. I did not listen to his music. Perhaps I missed out on something but I am certainly not concerned about it; I have undoubtedly missed out on all sorts of things and shall continue to do so.

In time, I too will be ‘lost.’ We all know it will not matter to anywhere near as many people as Prince’s passing. But it is just as inevitable, just as much a part of life and loss and change, and both those who knew me and those who did not will continue their lives as before.

That’s all any of us can do, really, isn’t it?

Stephen Brooke ©2016