Oh Life!

Bandaloop performing in downtown Oakland, July 24, 2025

I had decided that I wouldn’t send an October newsletter because I didn’t have anything that I felt compelled to write that I haven’t already written. And then I listened to Ezra Klein’s interview with Brian Eno and an interview conducted with Jane Goodall prior to her passing. I was inspired by these conversations and thought you might be too.

I knew very little about Brian Eno other than that he created ambient music. So, the conversation between Klein and Eno was not only informative but also inspirational and thought provoking. I learned that Eno is a musician, composer, music producer, philosopher, creative inspiration, and big thinker. He also has a new book out, “What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory.”

“I’ve always thought that art is one of the most important things humans do with their time,” shared Eno. “Children learn through play, and adults play through art.” Eno’s definition of art is broad and includes things like embroidery, cake decorating, and tattoos. His way of describing the creative process resonated with me and his voice is intoxicating. I could listen to him for hours.

In Eno’s piece, “Music for Airports” he described the criteria he used to write the music and then said he wanted people to have a spiritual experience listening to it. That is exactly how Klein described experiencing the piece.

And then Jane Goodall died. Catrin Einhorn, in an October 1, 2025 New York Times article wrote that in preparation for an interview with Goodall, “I had asked virtually everyone I came across, from all walks of life, what they wanted to know from Dr. Goodall. Again and again, the answer was the same: They wanted to know where they could find hope. But I didn’t want to ask that question, because she has answered it in at least two books on the subject. So I asked her about balancing hope — which she found in human intellect, in the resilience of nature, in the power of young people and in the indomitable human spirit — with false hope, sometimes called “hopium.”

She didn’t hesitate. ‘Hope isn’t just wishful thinking,’ she said, telling us to imagine a long, dark tunnel with a little star at the end representing hope.

‘There’s no good sitting at the mouth of the tunnel and wishing that that hope would come to us,’ she said. ‘We’ve got to roll up our sleeves. … And we’ve got to climb over, crawl under, work around all the obstacles that lie between us and the star.’”

Toward the end of the interview with Eno, he tells a story about a New York taxi driver who turns around to say to his customers, “Oh life. I’m so glad I got in.” Eno then says, “I just love that it’s like an amazing show at a theater and you manage to get a ticket to see it. I appreciate that kind of gratitude.”

What inspiring ways to think about gratitude, hope, and creativity!