Unknown Regrets

There are things that you don't miss until you experience them, and afterwards you cannot bear to be without them. Sex is the most obvious example. Or hearing KD Lang singing Helpless, live, and trying not to cry like a small child.

We have four days of immersive music coming up. The line-up has a few stars but we know from many years of experience that it's the lower part of the bill which is the most engaging. We've been going to this particular festival for twelve years on and off. I cannot count the artists that I listen to every day who I first heard in a soggy tent surrounded by pissed-up middle-aged folkies. If it hadn't been for that first visit, my music collection would still be dominated by progressive rock and electric guitars. Now I'm a middle-aged folkie myself and by 18:00 on Friday I'll also be beered-bearded and smiling.

I suddenly felt a chill. What other experiences in life have I missed? If the universe really is infinite, then technically, I missed an infinity of riches. Such a thing should make me sad, but then I imagine that I am craving ownership of every diamond buried in the secret Earth, and that wouldn't be fair now would it. So I'm off to pick a few cherries from the trees, and perhaps I'll leave most of them for the birds.