Marlow's Musings 5/4/25
Insights, adventures and fun stuff from this week.
Audio narration by David Marlow
The long-dormant radio of the '64 Mustang sprang to life with Sir Duke.1 When I bought the car in 1976, it didn't have a working radio (or second gear).
A guy in the electric shop where my dad worked bragged that he could fix old radios, so my dad took it to him to fix. He did repair it to perfect working order, though it took him a long time.
I'd had the Mustang for nearly a year with no music to listen to while driving. Being one of the first in my class to have a license meant my passengers never complained about a lack of music. Ironically, years later, I banned music for my kids when they first started driving, concerned it would be too distracting.
With Stevie Wonder serenading us, we took off for Honey Creek Square Mall and the theater to see the movie everyone was talking about—Star Wars.
I made the trip at least 20 times that summer, mesmerized by the story, special effects, and the chance to “make the jump to hyperspace.”
Back then, you saw a movie in the theater, or you didn't see it. There was no streaming or DVDs. Even VHS tapes were a decade away.
In the nearly five decades since, there have been many more movies in various incarnations and opportunities to experience the magic of Star Wars. I even got to pull the levers in the Millennium Falcon once at Disney to make the jump to hyperspace.
Today is Star Wars Day. May the 4th…get it, may the fourth (force) be with you?
Even if the popularity of the movies themselves has waned from those phenomenal times in the '70s and early ‘80s, Star Wars has transcended being merely a story to become a part of our culture.
My grandkids love to ‘use the force’ to open automatic doors as they enter stores. Their grandfather might have introduced that to them. And that is kind of the point of what I’m pondering today.
When will Star Wars stop being part of our lives?
I saw a cartoon a while back that depicts a guy in the future saying goodbye to a friend in a hovercar. The driver of the hovercar responds with, “ May the Force be with you.”
His friend says, “Huh? What does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” the hovercar driver answers, “it’s just something my grandpa used to say.”
The caption pondered the date when Star Wars will be quoted for the last time.
Maybe it will continue for centuries. We use many such fossil phrases. Without further ado, mind your p’s and q’s, just deserts, to name a few.
We also engage in linguistic anachronisms like dialing a phone or rolling down the windows. That reminds me, one of the windows didn’t roll down (i.e., work) in that car either.
Like the image of a floppy disk still serving as the ‘save’ icon, I expect Star Wars and the use of the Force will be with us long after the movies themselves have faded away.
Who knows, someday years from now, one of my grandchildren—all grown up with kids of their own—might ‘open’ a door at the grocery store using the Force. When their child marvels and asks where they learned how to do that, they'll simply answer, “It was something my grandfather always did.”
May the 4th be with you.
Word of the Week
Archaism(n)
/ˈärkāˌizəm/
1: retention of what is old and bygone
2: a fossil phrase
An archaism should not be confused with an obsolete word that has completely fallen out of use and is not recognized or understood by most modern speakers.
Archaisms are words or expressions that are no longer in everyday use but still survive in limited, specialized, or stylistic contexts. They may appear in literature, legal language, religious texts, or set phrases.
For example, words like “thee” and “thou” are considered archaic. They are rarely used in modern speech but are still recognized and occasionally used for effect or tradition.
In case you missed it…
This week’s Ikigai Thought for Today…The Infinite Uniqueness of You
We are each born with the ability to do a unique combination of things better than anyone else. The trick is uncovering your combination.
Here’s one of my quirky ‘cool’ weird things…
Ikiquest+
This week’s Coffee Contemplation…Red Squirrels
I bring you along real-time on an unexpected meditation on change and adaptation, sparked by a neighbor's deteriorating shed and its surprising new inhabitants, tiny red squirrels.
What begins as a reflection on watching the squirrels evolves into an exploration of how initial disappointments can transform into unexpected gifts.
Ikiquest+ subscribers can listen to the audio narration or read the transcription.
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Comment of the Week:
I’m sharing this thought from Tracey…
Very excited to start this journey. (reading The Ikigai Way)
I have been following David Marlow for years. His posts have inspired me and made a major impact at how I look at my energy and opportunities. Without him knowing, he helped jump start my professional career with intention.
Now he has a new book to help guide even further. I’m super excited to see where my journey will take me.
I never tire of hearing about lives being changed. Imagine a million more people living their purpose and the impact that could have on the world.
Quote I’m Pondering
This thought is from Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard…
“You train yourself in the art of being mysterious to everyone. My dear friend! What if there were no one, who cared about guessing your riddle, what pleasure would you then take in it?”2
Final Thoughts
Even as a kid, I was struck by how many characters in Star Wars used the expression but not the power of the Force. Mouthing the words and appearance of faith without the substance.
That seems present in our world today as much as in galaxies far, far away.
Quest Well.
"Sir Duke" is a hit song written and performed by Stevie Wonder, released in 1977 on his album Songs in the Key of Life. The song was popular during the summer of Star Wars and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts, and pays tribute to jazz legend Duke Ellington, who had passed away in 1974. It was the song that played the first time I turned on the repaired AM radio in my Mustang.
Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or: A Fragment of Life, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987)
When something would break, I would say "damn it Chewie" and I never could remember it that was in an actual line in the movie. I guess I need to start saying "My name is Groot." The meaning is endless. May the force be with you!
Wonder how many people are 420 on 5-4 looking for 411 on 12 and 35?