What is the "rhythm" of your life?

Recently, a video by Ze Frank caught my attention. Ze discusses how most things in life have inherent rhythm, outside of the obvious examples of music. Speech, comedy and even life itself fits into a cycle of ebbs and flows. He identifies three main mechanisms of jokes. The first is expectation, the explanation the comedian gives to the audience, the context, the setup. The second is the silences, the moments endowed by the comedian for the audience to process a certain unit of comedy. And he considers finally the surprise, the brutal punchline and the satisfactory resolution of all its precedents.

Ze broadens the discussion by postulating that in many ways our lives follow similar cycles. And similar to the comic's perceived skill is in balancing the three elements, so too does our happiness depend on our balance in our life.

And what a tenuous balance it is. Similarly to Ze I distinctly remember consciously developing my knowledge of rhythm. When I was in 4th grade, I was told that I needed to practice my syncopation as well through a torture device known as "The Rhythm Book". As a budding Classical musician it was absolutely imperative that I learned how to divide rhythm mathematically to the point that it was almost second nature(though for anyone who ever actually heard me play that never actually happened :P).

But from what I've seen so far, life-rhythm is much more unprecedented and intuitive than trying to play three notes against four. It's not nearly as precise as music and while there is inherent structure, I'm not sure whether we can truly call it rhythm. Musical rhythm is supposed to be precise and mathematical even if the delivery(i.e. Jazz) is not. Rhythm by nature is predictable and life is anything but.

But I think the "rhythm" vein of thought is an interesting one to consider(even if I don't agree with it wholeheartedly). Ze poses the question to the audience of "What is the rhythm of your life and are you happy with it?"

According to Ze, the life-cycle analogy of expectation is supposedly regularity; jobs, traditions etc, habits. Silence is "the ability to live between the beats, to be quiet" and Surprise is "the ability to try new things and become uncomfortable." The key is to balancing those three elements to lead a happy life and if you let one dominate, the entire thing falls apart.

So what is my rhythm? Anyone who knows me knows that I have the expectation down to an artform. New England born and bred, we have tradition here in spades. But I also do consider my family, school work and swimming things that have grounded me and I can't really see that changing ever. And as an introverted person by nature I can keep myself entertained and would usually prefer to stay in with a cup of tea and Sherlock episodes than go out to a club. But then that leads into the element of surprise. I don't think I'm unique in having issues with trying new things and being uncomfortable. It is a far easier thing for me to lounge around on my bed and watch BBC dramas than it would be for me to walk into a crowded bar and strike up a conversation with a stranger. But the fact that "surprise" has its own category suggests that it is equally as important as traditions and silence, an implication that I agree with even if I have difficulties executing. How else would you find ways to grow?

I guess in summary I am very grateful for the fact that traditions and solitude are things with which I am inherently comfortable. I feel like I'm in a good place with those. But for this future school year(and I never thought I'd ever say this), but I want to be more uncomfortable. Viva la vida.

What's the rhythm of YOUR life?