Much like a great set of Karaoke or a late night dive bar hang or just the 80’s music scene in general, Life is all about the Journey. “Don’t stop believin’! Hold on to that…” notion that there is no prize at the end of the road. There may be a few forks, but no prize. Lots of times, we travel down the road collecting forks only to realize that the theoretical “reward” is soup. You know what the actual reward is? A fork collection.

I’ve been playing a golf game on my phone since April 2020. It was one of the coping mechanisms that actually didn’t hurt me physically or financially this past year and a half. ‘See? I told you they were out there, honey. Unpack those bags, would ya? Stay a while...’ Anyway, you level up in experience by winning matches which wins coins to spend on club upgrades, the more rare, the more xp points you get. And there’s daily goals, tournaments, a clubhouse, a group chat, all the things that make an app basically social media. And long story short (which yes, I do know how to do), I’m a co-captain in my clubhouse and the chat will vary wildly week to week but always come back to the long struggle for most of us to reach Level 9.

Ah, level 9. What mystery awaits! Prizes, accolades, riches beyond our wildest dreams... I’m as salty as Veruca because I want it nowwwwwwwwww.....

Egg on my face, huh? Could you even imagine for a second if I was like that? Life, and yes we are talking about that, scroll back up, you’ll see, is actually about that journey to the end, and enjoying your time getting there, the Charlie Bucket of it all, if you will. Lick the walls, drink fizzy lifting juice, save that ever lasting gobstopper for an everlasting gobstoppical moment, take the glass elevator wherever the hell it goes. But don’t for a second think that a chocolate factory will make you happy. It won’t. (I actually wrote and performed a whole piece on here about how it didn’t. Remember that?)

Here’s the actual exchange from the game, and yes, it’s this boring most of the time, but I enjoy it (08/24/2021):

And here’s what I wrote:

I like playing this golf game. It is fun to me. I do so every day. I haven’t missed one day since April 2020. It’s the same holes, over and over again. Like marriage! Updates come out regularly and the game hasn’t really changed. I think they added TPC Boston. Have I lost you yet? The look and feel remain the same and that’s comforting, but I have to wonder, will I reach level 9?

Who cares! When I start winning all the tournaments, getting holes-in-one everywhere, paying for card packets to open, then I’ll stop. But right now, it’s about the fun and the journey (there’s that word again) through it.

Where’s life going? I don’t know. You couldn’t pay someone enough to tell you and be right. The only thing I do know is where I’ve been, what I’ve done, and if I’m determined and enjoying myself enough to keep going. I am. Don’t spend so long pondering the existential questions. Take some time, but much of it is unanswerable. Is it really worth getting to level 9? Maybe, but let’s be present here now and then find out one day that level 9 is right in front of me. And if I play long enough, spend enough money, and win enough challenges, maybe it will be.