We all talk about trying to stay young. Like, I guess it’s a battle that we must win every day. But I’ve been thinking, perhaps we are not looking at this with the correct angle in mind. There’s a big difference between trying to preserve your life like a photo in a frame and actually being present in it. One is about holding on to the past, the other is about showing up.

We all know what preservation looks like. It’s staying in your comfort zone, and I talked about that previously in my program—staying in your comfort zone because it’s safe. It’s playing the same music because, hey, you know the lyrics. It’s trying to keep things exactly the way they were many years ago.

But then, when you try to freeze the moment, you lose the pulse. It’s become like a statue—something to look at, but nothing you can actually feel in yourself, in your heart.

I’ll share something with you. Sometimes, I like to color my hair now and then, occasionally. I’m not doing it to hide the white or pretend that no years have gone by. I actually really like the salt-and-pepper look. It’s got character, don’t you think? But that’s the preservation side of me. It’s the part of me that wants to manage the image. And it’s fine as long as I don’t let that image become more important than me—than the man inside me.

Because then there is the presence. That’s got nothing to do with the year you were born. Presence is about having the energy to listen to a new sound, new music, new songs, to start a new conversation, or take a trip to somewhere where you don’t really know the language and there’s nothing as comfort as your comfort zone. It’s not about staying young or looking young; it’s about staying curious. It’s about being right here, right now, and being mindful.

Now, please don’t get me wrong. I love good memory as anyone else. Nostalgia is a beautiful thing; it’s like visiting an old friend or looking through your old travel journal. But there is a difference between remembering the past or trying to live in it. I love listening to oldies, and I play a lot of them on this show. It’s about preservation; it’s about celebrating the foundation of who we are, the music that we grew up with. And when you’re listening to some old songs, you do it with a smile; it feels good because you remember how you felt when you first heard it.

So, I want to ask you a question that I’ve asked myself many times: where is the energy going today? Are you, like me sometimes, exhausted from trying to hold back the tide and stop the clock? Or are you using the same energy to actually be present with the people you love? It is certainly a battle of balance, like many other things.

Frankly, I don’t have to be perfectly preserved. You can certainly keep the museum, and I will take the open road because, hey, the music sounds a lot better when you’re not afraid to listen to new stuff and from the next note.

That said, I have a lot of great music—yes, some oldies, some new stuff, all world music on East to West. So, I would love you to stay with me for the next couple of hours.”