Robert Bruce Cormack. 

I’m fixing a hole where the rain comes in and stops my mind from wandering

Paul McCartney, 1967

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Going through some old books the other day, I came across Scott Peck’s “Road Less Traveled.” I hadn’t read this book in a dog’s age, possibly longer since dogs don’t live that long.

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Sticking out of the book was a Post-it note with one word written across the top: “Holes.” Seems in the metaphysical world, we all look like Swiss cheese. These are our emotional holes and, according to Peck, we don’t take them nearly as seriously as we should.

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Peck explains that our character is determined by the size of our holes, with needy people having big holes, and less needy having smaller ones.

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In relationships, for instance, we say, “My partner completes me.”

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Since none of us is terribly good at filling anything (wall cracks, sink holes, etc.) we expect others to fill our holes for us. In relationships, for instance, we say, “My partner completes me.”

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To feel complete we must constantly ask for affirmation. This can take the form of anything from “Do I look pretty?” to “Does it bother you that I’m armed?”

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Most of us feel affirmation is essential to filling holes. If we don’t get it from others, we feel unworthy. Yet, in the whole scheme of things, we have only ourselves to blame. They’re our holes.

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This brings me to Paul McCartney’s “Fixing a Hole.” Theorists continue to posit over the word “fixing.” Fixing a hole, as they conclude, is McCartney taking matters into his own hands.

 

This follows Peck’s logic that holes can’t be filled by other people. We must affirm ourselves, or at least understand where the holes came from in the first place (psychologists call this cognitive behavioral therapy).

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If you don’t, it really doesn’t matter if you’re wrong or right. The key words after that are “where I belong I’m right.”

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McCartney’s lyrics pose their own metaphysical chew toy: holes are only a problem if you see them as a problem. If you don’t, it really doesn’t matter if you’re wrong or right. The key words after that are “where I belong I’m right.”

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McCartney admitted years later that the song was really about his growing independence. Even during Sgt. Pepper, The Beatles were growing further and further apart, particularly Lennon and himself.

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McCartney realized he’d have to rely on his own instincts. Once he discovered he could survive and, in fact, flourish with his band Wings, criticism seemed innocuous at best.

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So fixing holes is getting past what isn’t worth worrying about. When Peck would explain this to his patients, he’d draw a large circle with a small circle in the middle. The small circle was reality, the large circle was perception.

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What dominates perception is essentially fear. We’re so full of “what ifs?” we forget they’re mostly fabricated. As our mind wanders, those fears increase. These are what’s known as “fear-based” holes.

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This is classic Shakespearean irony, something McCartney understood, even if he didn’t understand Shakespeare.

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It seems our obstacles based on how we’re perceived by others (better known as critics, professional or otherwise). This is classic Shakespearean irony, something McCartney understood, even if he didn’t understand Shakespeare.

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“See the people standing there who disagree and never win.” Of course they never win, they’re critics. Worrying about their opinion is foolish. They don’t matter unless you let them. And life is so much more productive if you don’t.

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In other words, take away fear and second guessing and you’d be surprised how much time you have for other things.

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“I’m taking the time for a number of things that weren’t important yesterday.”

Fill a few holes (maybe more than a few), and the world’s your oyster. Get out, throw a ball, listen to Sgt. Pepper. Let the rest of the world worry itself sick.

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I’ll close with the most telling part of McCartney’s lyric. “Silly people run around they worry me, and never ask me why they don’t get past my door.” Silly people (mostly critics) don’t get past his door because he realizes he doesn’t need them. Nobody needs critics except critics.

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Well, if you are being criticized, at least you’ve done something worth criticizing.

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If you’re saying, “But everyone seems to be critic these days. Well, if you are being criticized, at least you’ve done something worth criticizing. They haven’t produced anything. And there’s every likelihood they never will.

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That’s why they’re the “silly people” in McCartney’s song, the ones who “never get past my door.” It’s their problem not yours. Accept that notion and filling holes becomes a lot easier. Or, as McCartney observed: “And I still go.”

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It’s artful wordplay, far more analogous to Lennon than McCartney. The two songwriters were obviously excising their own holes, Lennon singing “I’ve got nothing to say, but it’s okay,” while McCartney sang, “I’ve got to admit it’s getting better, a little better all the time.”

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Each, in their own way, realized holes were just holes, whether you want to be optimistic (like McCartney) or pessimistic (like Lennon). You’re doing something, in other words, which is always better than doing nothing at all.

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Life is life. Get to that stage and “It really doesn’t matter if I am wrong or right, where I belong is right, where I belong.”

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Scott Peck once said, “Life is difficult. Once we truly see this, we transcend it.” The same can be said for holes. Once we accept life is difficult, we can also accept that it’s not our fault. Life is life. Get to that stage and “It really doesn’t matter if I am wrong or right, where I belong is right, where I belong.”

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The more holes you fill, in other words, the more you feel a sense of belonging. And that’s when other people feel it, too.

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Pretty soon, the world is getting better…a little better all the time.