Speed of Life

I wish I was better at writing about music. I can describe the literal ideas and some of the emotional phenomena, and I can draw connections to other works, but I struggle to really dig into the technical differences between musical works. The ways that writing and film can consistently click in my brain frequently do not occur when I try to think about music. That’s not entirely true, as I do often have concise critical thoughts about the music I listen to, but I’m certainly way better at consistently articulating myself when thinking about movies than music. All this to say that David Bowie’s Low is a towering artistic achievement that understands more about the world than most works of art ever come close to. The shifts from droning and subdued vocal tracks to tranquil ambient tracks creates one of the most sublime works of music I’ve had the pleasure of listening to, and it’s not even Bowie’s best!

This is a scattered blog. My life’s been scattered lately. The whiplash of my time spent at work to the games I’ve been playing at home, the movies I’ve caught, and the people I’ve spent time with has been throwing my thoughts and the vibes of my life all over the place. This has been one of the best weeks of my summer, but I also had to spend 40 hours working at a poorly managed summer camp. Movies are cool! Games are cool! People are cool! I’m watching Shin Kamen Rider right now and comparing it to a bunch of other shit, but I’m mostly trying to avoid waking up tomorrow and going to work! Enjoy these last two paragraphs that I wrote after a transcendent Saturday night.

Few things are anywhere near as magical as people. To interweave the tapestries of our lives with others for even a short moment is an immense privilege, and when it is done with joy and love it becomes the most beautiful part of being alive. Every single person who you come into contact with on a given day has an entire life full of rich and beautiful stories which make them the person you spend time with. The exploration of these varied and beautiful depths of history are what make other humans so interesting, and it is within these realms which true numinousness can be found. At least for me. I am filled with love by the mere presence of any single person I care about, and the joy of sharing myself and receiving others’ love and stories is exactly what drives me every single day of my life.

Careful readers may guess that I am writing this after a great night with friends, and they would be correct. There are plenty of days at work or during school where I do not maintain this optimism and love quite as strongly as I feel it now, but it is exactly what undergirds and drives every piece of my being at all times. Any moment where I catch myself leaning away from love and doing something which comes from another place, I try to stop myself and reorient back to what should be the driving force behind every action. There are countless people on this planet who are not driven by love, either by necessity or their own failings, and those are the people who cause the most problems. Everyone knows someone who does not love with their whole heart. Many people have not found the ability to, but you can always tell who is trying. I always hope that my boundless love for my friends is felt, but it is extremely challenging to convey these intangibles. I try to convey these things through my photography, through the music I listen to (and post about), and sometimes through my writing.