{"id":19338,"date":"2023-02-22T00:43:56","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T00:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=19338"},"modified":"2023-02-23T23:45:17","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T23:45:17","slug":"slip-slidin-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/22\/slip-slidin-away\/","title":{"rendered":"SLIP SLIDIN\u2019 AWAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY JOELLEN COLLINS<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
JoEllen Collins\u2014a longtime resident of the Wood River Valley\u2014is a teacher, writer, fabric artist, choir member and unabashedly proud grandma known as \u201cBibi Jo.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In December, on a quiet night at home, I watched a tribute to Paul Simon and his music.\u00a0As a younger woman, I adored Simon & Garfunkel, and often caught their lyrics running through my consciousness. Those words seemed especially relevant to me and the choices I made in my life.\u00a0Some were comforting, like \u201cA Bridge Over Troubled Water.\u201d Those lyrics symbolized my blanket of comfort from my friends and family when scary or hateful things crossed my path.
\nEven with maturity, I still crave the lift I get from listening to the beautiful songs available to my generation. The \u201cHomeward Bound\u201d Grammy presentation praising the life and work of Paul Simon was a surprise to me, a woman who lives alone and doesn\u2019t always have someone with me to share the inspiration. It was a magical show, and I am lucky to have seen it. Instead of nudging the person next to me, a way of reacting to exquisite performances, I called my daughters and closest friends to tell them to catch it if they could.
\nStill, I\u2019d rather be with someone to share these moments. On a solo trip to Greece and Spain, I sat in the famous Greek theater adjacent to the Acropolis by myself even though hundreds of people were also in the audience watching Irene Pappas in \u201cMedea.\u201d\u00a0Oh, to have had a soulmate next to me for that!
\nThis time I heard most of my favorite pieces from Paul Simon, but one has stayed with me for several weeks as I have been traveling alone and embarking on some new ways of getting around. The lyrics of \u201cSlip, Slidin\u2019 Away\u201d mean something different to me now than before. I used to apply those words to missed opportunities, as if they had just slipped through my hands.\u00a0Now, however, I am focusing on the lyric, \u201cThe nearer the destination, the more you\u2019re slip slidin\u2019 away.\u201d
\nI\u2019ve read several analyses of that line. Does the destination encourage ways to avoid reaching it? Is this merely an excuse to put off an established goal \u2014 to procrastinate \u2014 or is it a reminder that perhaps the end of the trip is not as important as the unexpected slides during our voyage.
\nI would prefer to look at slidin\u2019 away as a positive aspect of being bold, of sampling new patterns \u2014 in essence, expanding the cozy box one might want to stay in for safety. When I review my life, I admit that I am more of a dilettante than a fully realized success at whatever I was meant to do. However, my slides into world travel, new teaching experiences, attempting publication, or going off a certain path to be with someone I cherish, have resulted in some of the richest, most exciting and productive times imaginable.\u00a0I don\u2019t regret those times. I can\u2019t claim expertise in a dominant goal, but boy, has it been fun! I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever been bored, especially while anticipating a slip into the new.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY JOELLEN COLLINS In December, on a quiet night at home, I watched a tribute to Paul Simon and his music.\u00a0As a younger woman, I adored Simon & Garfunkel, and often caught their lyrics running through my consciousness. Those words seemed especially relevant to me and the choices I made in my life.\u00a0Some were comforting, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19338","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-commentary","8":"category-on-lifes-terms"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19338"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19339,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19338\/revisions\/19339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}