IS THAT ALL THERE IS?

There are songs that don’t just take you back.

They take you somewhere you didn’t even know you had been.

For me, it’s Peggy Lee singing “Is That All There Is?”

Suddenly, I’m a kid again, sitting in the backseat of an old Chevrolet.

Windows rolled up.

My parents in the front seat, smoking cigarettes.

The AM radio playing.

And Peggy Lee singing:

Is that all there is?

I don’t remember ever asking my parents what the song meant.

I just remember thinking, This is sad.

The words were sad.

The melody was sad.

Even her voice sounded as though she were sitting there in that smoky Chevrolet, wondering the same thing I was.

Funny thing about getting older.

Sometimes you finally understand the questions you heard when you were young.

And maybe “Is that all there is?” isn’t really a question of disappointment.

Maybe it’s a question of longing.

Is there more?

Is there something deeper?

Is there something we’re missing while we’re busy living?

Because maybe the danger isn’t that there’s nothing more.

Maybe the danger is that we become so busy looking for “more” that we miss what is already here.

The person beside us.

The morning coffee.

The familiar song.

The ordinary Monday.

The life we sometimes complain about that someone else would give anything to have.

Years from now, we may look back on this very day and wish we could sit in the backseat of it one more time.

So perhaps the Caring Catalyst for this Monday is simple:

Don’t miss today while waiting for something more.

You may be living a moment right now that someday you’ll wish you could hear again.

Just like an old song on an AM radio.

And suddenly…

you’re back there.

And you realize—

it was more than you knew.