ROCKETMAN (2019) and Life’s Lessons

We were looking at nine “Life Lessons” yesterday, and last night Tananarive and I saw “Rocketman.” It seemed to me that there was a perfect opportunity to discuss both of them today. If you know much about Elton John, it is hard to really “spoil” the movie, but I’m still going to be as oblique as I can…but this essay will be best read after you’ve seen it.

Here we go. Here are Lessons 2–5:

2. YOU WILL LEARN LESSONS.

You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, ONLY LESSONS.

Growth is a process of trial and error, experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately “works”.

4. A LESSON IS REPEATED UNTIL IT IS LEARNED.

A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. Then you can go on to the next lesson.

5. LEARNING LESSONS DOES NOT END.

There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

Again, I have no sense that this is really “Ancient Sanskrit.” But on the other hand, I’ve seen versions of these thoughts from many philosophers, from many traditions, throughout the ages. There are no “new” profound…