Tennis, Dylan, and a New Year's Day Insight

Regular readers know that I am a big Bob Dylan fan and have cited him many times over the years to convey essential insights I’m trying to convey. Obviously, I’m not the only one to have leaned on Dylan to help me navigate through life.

During an interview, Steve Jobs said to Bill Gates,

“I live my life through either a Beatles or Bob Dylan song.”

Now that’s good company to be in!

And to prove that I don’t just fall back on Dylan, but the Beatles as well from time to time, here is Beans in front of the lyrics to Imagine by John Lennon that Roneet gave me as a present a number of years ago. I think the two go well together.

The Grateful Dead covered many Dylan songs over their 30 years together and then carried on to their solo and spin-off bands. One of my favorites was It’s All Over Now Baby Blue, which was almost always played as an encore. It was a great way to end a show. It is a very powerful song with a deep intensity and extraordinary lyrics. I never really took the time to analyze what the song meant. It’s not always easy to do with Dylan’s songs, as his lyrics can be cryptic and allegorical. He also often uses Biblical references.

Some people get their best thinking done in the shower or while taking a walk. I have found that I sometimes have insights arise on the tennis court. Between points, I will let my mind wander from time to time in hopes of landing on something that can be helpful in the match and, sometimes, even more widely applicable to my life off of the court.

When I play tennis at Indian Wells, I often have the court desk match me up with people to play, as I am not there regularly. Unfortunately, most matches are not that competitive as I am typically younger, more mobile, agile, and more skilled than my opponents. When I play in Newport Beach, however, it’s usually the opposite where I am often playing someone better than myself.?

During this particular match on New Year’s morning, I played against someone who was clearly older than me, but during warm-ups, I could see he had some pretty good strokes with some pace. I also noticed he was wearing a jacket that had an imprint on it, advertising a national tennis tournament. He obviously played in it which suggested to me he is one who takes tennis seriously and likes to compete.

In spite of how he warmed up and what he was wearing, it was clear early on that he was no match for me. He didn’t have many answers to my shots, so he did something that no one had done to me before, and that was rather than returning my serve from close to the baseline, he moved way in to inside the service box very close to the net. I remember seeing Michael Chang do this to Ivan Lendl when he won the French Open at age 17, which turned out to be what helped him win the match. I was admittedly dumbfounded, and this definitely required me to adjust my approach and thought process. And while he won a point or two initially, it didn’t take long for him to realize that this strategy wasn’t going to work either, as I could place the ball where I wanted and with pace so that he had very little reaction time to return my serves effectively.

During the crossover break, I asked him about his decision to do that, and he said he had someone do it to him in a tournament in his age group, as well as to all of his other opponents, and it was incredibly successful, so he figured why not try it with me. I asked him what age group he plays in, and he said 85 to 90 and that he was 85. I was floored. I knew he was older, but I had no idea he was 85. No matter the score or how challenging the match was or was not, it didn’t matter. I just felt honored to be on the court with someone so vigorous at 85. I asked him if he would let me take a selfie with him so I could remember the start of 2024 (the match was on January 1st at 8:00 a.m.!). He said he was touched by my request. Here are the two of us. I don’t think most people would guess he is 85.

He skied until recently and has had one knee replaced, needs the other one done, and has a lot of arthritis in his back along with other back issues. And yet, he still keeps going for it. He recently bought an RV that he intends to drive to Alaska with his wife from his home in Washington state this summer. He owns 25 acres in a beautiful area where he cares for himself and has planted 5,000 trees. His father was a logger, and when he was young, he would help him from time to time. On one tragic day, a part of a tree fell on his father’s head, and unfortunately, the damage caused was too vast for him to have survived. He lost his father at 7. He spent 35 years in military counter-intelligence. These are the things one can learn in a short period of time during breaks in a tennis match.

Because the pace of the match wasn’t the fastest, I had time to think, and for whatever reason, Dylan’s Baby Blue came into my head. Here are the first few stanzas of the song to give you a sense of the writing style.

You must leave now, take what you need you think will last

But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast

Yonder stands your orphan with his gun

Crying like a fire in the sun

Look out the saints are comin’ through

And it’s all over now, Baby Blue

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense

Take what you have gathered from coincidence

The empty-handed painter from your streets

Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets

This sky, too, is folding under you

And it’s all over now, Baby Blue

The song is about some sort of loss that requires the individual to leave rather suddenly and make quick decisions about what to take that will have lasting value. Choose what will bring spiritual growth and leave behind that which impedes it. There is far more that goes into the song than this. For a fascinating and insightful analysis, I suggest reading this article.

I always loved Jerry Garcia’s guitar work during the song overlaid with the emotion he would put into it with his singing. Here is an excellent version from 1981 (audio only) that is a great representation of the power of the song and the emotion Jerry could put into it. There is one line in particular that would get him particularly animated and one I found very powerful, particularly given the way he sang it. I never thought about why it resonated so much with me…until New Year’s Day 2024 on the tennis court at Indian Wells. The line is highlighted in bold.

Leave your stepping stones behind. Something calls for you.

Forget the dead you’ve left. They will not follow you.

Why did that line keep gnawing at me? Forget the dead you’ve left. They will not follow you. I realized how powerfully applicable it was to playing tennis effectively. After an outcome that didn’t go as planned or hoped, it’s important to analyze what happened with a curious mind, process it, integrate it, and then move forward to the next point. Every time I let it fester, linger, and upset me and carry over to the next point, then I have done the opposite. I have let the dead rule from the grave, and the results are often disappointing. And this, in turn breeds more negativity so that I end up in a doom loop.

And what do I mean by dead?

I don’t mean people who have passed away and with whom we have very fond memories and want to carry them forward with us in our hearts. I mean anything that drains the life force from us. How do we know what those things are? It’s anything that contracts us.?

The forces of death instill within us fear, anxiety, pessimism, a lack of presence, self-absorption, disconnection, isolation, disdain, self-loathing, feeling stuck, stagnation, dis-ease, resentment, anger, jealousy, envy, and an overall comparative mind. I’m sure you can add many more to the list.

Conversely, anything that provides the energy source of life expands us. It infuses us with a feeling of wonder, motivation, health, growth, awe, curiosity, a connection to the divine, lightness, joy, ease, presence, focus, serenity, a deep desire for excellence, an appreciation for and seeking out beauty, a connection to others and nature, and cultivating and sustaining a pristine mind and mastery mindset.

Every time I made a mistake or something happened that may cause frustration, I kept saying to myself, “Forget the dead you’ve left; they will not follow you,” and it was extremely helpful. I not only avoided ruminating on the past, but I put myself in a better position to follow another tennis court insight generated a while back, which is if I’m going to internalize, then I must fertilize.

I then realized that beyond tennis, when I let the dead control my thoughts and actions, I find myself contracting, and the moment often will envelop me, versus when I choose life, I can expand and envelop the moment. Said more simply, taking the dead with me triggers fear and contraction while leaving them behind fosters courage, strength, creativity, and an overall greater sense of control and well-being.

Once again, I have to thank Dylan, tennis, and my opponents for helping create greater awareness and inspiration for me.

If you’re feeling anxious, upset, and a feeling of contraction, ask yourself who or what from the dead are you bringing along with you? And once you identify who or what they are, then do your best to leave them behind because the dead will not follow you unless you let them.