#life with lennon

[bitchinbarzal]

What are all the au tags?? can't seem to find them??

I’ll put them in the tags ✨🩷

[artylla]

now they're frightened of leaving it

everyone's weaving it

[spotlitehooker]

are you fucking kidding me

[starrysharks]

vanilla

[thewalrusespublicist]

So didn't realise that people didn't know about the John Lennon 1980 'dear one' thing. As we're all here though I wanted to mention that the phrase 'my dear one' potentially has a bit of a story arc when it comes to John's relationship with Paul. For those familiar with British English, 'my dear one' sticks out as it's not a used term of endearment at all. So where does it come from? It could be a non-straightforward Victorian throwback, but more likely its hearkening to the use of the phrase in Eastern meditation to denote your nearest and dearest. Great, already off to a sweet start (and lines up with Yoko having Paul on the next-of-kin list with Julian and Mimi when John died).

It POTENTIALLY gets a bit more layered than that though once you add in the idea of hugging meditation. Contrary to what Paul says (sorry Paul, I do believe you on most things, just not this) despite being 'Northern men' TM the Beatles were a huggy bunch. John mentions it in the 1967 Hunter Davies interview:

''We used to be embarrassed about touching each other. We’d do an elaborate handshake just to hide the embarrassment… or we did mad dances. Then we got to hugging each other. Now we do the Buddhist bit… arms around. It’s just saying hello, that’s all.''

As pointed out in @thecoleopterawithana and @monkberries amazing posts, the Buddhist bit is hugging meditation which became popular in the 1960s. In hugging meditation, you

''have to make him or her very real in your arms, not just for the sake of appearances, patting him on the back to pretend you are there, but breathing consciously and hugging with all your body, spirit, and heart. Hugging meditation is a practice of mindfulness. “Breathing in, I know my dear one is in my arms, alive. Breathing out, she is so precious to me.”''

We know physical touch was important to John. One of the plusses of being with Yoko was being affectionate with his best friend, he tells Paul that touching is good whilst hugging him and in the Get Back sessions he delightedly asks Paul about a vivid dream where he was touching Paul (whether platonic or romantic this always read to me as a blatant subconscious desire for increased intimacy with Paul). The desire for intimacy is still present in the 'Real Life/Love' demo in 1977 where John muses about holding a mysterious has-a-baby-expecting-another-lives-on-a-farm someone in his arms as if it was only yesterday (another piece of media I still cannot believe we have on tape).

With John's evident desire for physical intimacy in mind and the focus on holding dear ones in hugging meditation, I don't think it's too far to think that John would associate this term of endearment with a certain level of both physical and emotional intimacy. Whether its a slightly bittersweet ironic recollection of those times together in the late 60s or a sincere statement of their current relationship, Paul as his dear one could be seen as continuation of John's suppressed, resentful but ultimately present desire for reignited intimacy with Paul on multiple levels (again romantic? Platonic? Choose-your-own-adventure there, I'm not in charge of you).

Or I could be talking shit. Who knows? It's just fun to think about!

[thoughtkick]

When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.

John Lennon

[neil-gaiman]

i’m 16 and i don’t know what to do with my life, what do you suggest for that?

Don't worry.

Think about things you want to do and try to head towards those things in life. Don't beat yourself up too hard if you don't get there. Where you wind up may be unexpected or unplanned but it might be a wonderful place.

It's okay for your interests to change. It's okay to find out what you enjoy by accident or coincidence. It's okay to do things to pay the bills.

All the older people you see out there were 16 once. Most of them had no idea what to do with their lives either. Somehow they made it through to where they are now.

[ceofjohnlennon]

Ask Me Anything with Sean Ono Lennon, September 19, 2024.

[perfectfeelings]

Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.

John Lennon

[stopandimagineloveforever]

John & Paul rehearsing "Two of Us" in LET IT BE

[javelinbk]

The Beatles meet Muhammad Ali in Miami, 18th February 1964

[bitchinbarzal]

do you have a place where I can read all the aus?

they all have a tag! I’ll tag them on this post

[doctorwhommm]

adding doctor who to the long tradition of media with absolutely shockingly bad beatles wigs

[dateinthelife]

16 August 1960

Due to Allan Williams' wrong turn, the van carrying the Beatles from Liverpool to Hamburg ends up in Arnhem, The Netherlands, and John Lennon steals a harmonica, apparently still up in the air about whether he wants to be a rock star or an international criminal.

[thehopefulquotes]

Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.

John Lennon

[thoughtkick]

Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life in smiles, not tears.

John Lennon