Starting Over: Rekindling Passion
“It’ll be, just like starting over…” I hear this lyric so clearly in my mind with John Lennon’s familiar tone, the background doo-wop and the front cover picture on the Double Fantasy album of John and Yoko kissing. I’ve included a link to the song if you’re not familiar with it. The lyrics always made me curious. Was John talking about his marriage to Yoko or his musical creativity? I believe both.
Double Fantasy, released in 1980 three weeks before John was shot, was John’s last studio release before his death. He hadn’t produced anything in five years as he had committed to being present to raise his son Sean, born in 1975. So, I like to imagine John and Yoko as many new parents facing the ups and downs of marriage when combine with child-rearing and cultivating a desire for career ambitions.
If you follow the lyrics to this song, John describes something that is known, familiar, but something that is also lost in the familiarity. He implores the listener to put energy and focus back into this known commodity as an effort to recapture the passion of when it was new. The lyrics are simple, not complicated, but the message is not always easy to accomplish. I believe John’s message is about relationships, but also about rekindling passion for anything we do.
You can parallel the journey of a new relationship with the beginning of a new job, hobby, friendship, creative endeavor, etc. When something is new, we have curiosity and a certain passion toward the new object. Then, we naturally get more comfortable, which is a beautiful state as well, but perhaps we lose some energy toward what once captivated us. John’s message wisely urges us to be conscious about creating newness even in the familiar.
The song talks about flying away or going somewhere to revive the new, however rekindling passion can be achieved without leaving or going on vacation. Reawakening passion can be attained with a dedicated effort to creating the time and energy to focus on the subject, whether it be a relationship or an endeavor. Sometimes we allow ourselves to become lazy or we lack energy to focus on our relationships. We become so comfortable in our day-to-day life that we lose appreciation for what we have. Marcel Proust said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” The journey is to find appreciation and novelty in what we have.
How do we find novelty in what we already know so well? By being curious, sharing vulnerability, taking risks and asking questions. Allow yourself to view your relationship or your creative endeavor through fresh eyes. The experience now has the promise to be just like starting over.