Is Our Life Like a Jazz Performance?: Improvisation, The Matrix and Self-Determinism

There’s the scene in the movie The Matrix where The Oracle tells Neo that the choice has already been made he just has to figure out why he choose the way he did. 

Neo: But if you already know, how can I make a choice? 

The Oracle: Because you didn't come here to make the choice, you've already made it. You're here to try to understand *why* you made it. I thought you'd have figured that out by now. 

I’ve always wondered do we come here with a pre-planned existence or do we choose our existence along the way?

According to the Bible we have free will and are able to choose whatever it is we want in life, although it is clear that the message in the books of the Bible is for us to choose to do good.  What if however our choices are not completely our own?  What if we are led by our influences to do something “bad,” did we actually do it on our own or was it planted there in our mind subliminally and are we just acting out choices that are pre-planned.  

According to Hindu and Buddhist belief we are reincarnated and are learning life lessons not learned from previous births.  It is believed that we choose our parents and circumstances in order to “set the stage” for our life’s work.  There is also an ancient book said to be written on leaves called the book of Bhrigu that has the complete record of your existence and will tell you exactly what’s going to happen in your life and even your death circumstances.  Many astrologers will also tell you that events in your life are foretold by the cycles of the planets and stars and you can plan major life events by them.

I’ve also heard of a story of a Muslim warrior on horseback who is told by an astrologer that he will die in battle.  The warrior says some prayers, rides his horse in a circle several times and tells the astrologer to look at the stars again.  The astrologer is astonished at what he sees.  The alignments have changed.  This warrior story resonates with me the most.

As a jazz musician I have to learn many different songs and their structures, we call these structures the “form” of the piece.  There are a variety of forms that are common in jazz: AABA, 12 bar blues, A A’, and others.  When you perform a piece in jazz you usually play the melody of the song, then improvise a solo over the form, and then play the melody again to end the piece.  Even the overall performance of the piece has a form that encompasses the actual form of the song.  This is called the arrangement and the simplest arrangement is: beginning, middle, end.

I like to consider that life is very similar to performing a piece of music in jazz.  We have an overarching arrangement of events in life: beginning, middle, end.  Within this arrangement the song form comes in:

Beginning - we are born, we go to school, we graduate

Middle - we get a job, we get married, we have kids

End - we retire, we pass on  

There are many variations of these life events just as there are many different types of song forms.   Within this form jazz musicians will typically improvise a solo for several “choruses” or times around the form.  This is not an easy proposition, it takes some skill and training to do this well.  Some musicians may even “tamper” with the arrangement.  They may skip a section or add interludes in between sections.  There are musicians who will go even further still and forget the form altogether and just play “free” jazz.

By "tampering” with the arrangement and improvising over a solo section, the jazz musician gets the chance to have his/her say within the piece of music already composed by someone else.  This is the similarity between life and music.  The music, just like life, is pre-planned, however, there are opportunities for self-expression and free will to take over.  If you train yourself and develop your skill at improvising (allowing the universal energy to come through you) you can change the course of your life and maybe like the “free” jazz musicians dispense with the form all together. 

Some contend that form adds meaning to life and granted it is helpful to have a rough blueprint as we try to navigate life’s pathways.  However if we stick to the script completely life can become uninspired, we need to improvise to feel creative.  The key is to allow the inner guide to lead you in your improvisations.  This will allow for the best music to happen.  In jazz some of the best solos happen when you let go of preconceived concepts and as Charlie Parker says, “just play.”

If we allow the universal energy to guide us the best expression of our existence may be to not get a conventional job.  Maybe the best situation for some is to not have kids or even get married.  Conversely maybe the optimal situation is to do all of those things.  The best way to know is to “get into the zone” as musicians would say.  When you are playing some of your best music you are oblivious to time and things going on around you.  You connect to the energy of the moment and can weave together notes and phrases in beautiful ways.  This is what we are meant for, to express ourselves and our lives in beautiful ways and by connecting to the universal energy we can be guided to that expression.

Whether pre-planned or improvised, life has many variations and permutations.  If we can let go and “just play” with life there would undoubtedly be a lot more beautiful music around us.

Source for The Matrix Quote:

http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0000765/quotes