“I'm not telling you to make the world better, because I don't think that progress is necessarily part of the package. I'm just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it. To look at it. To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it. To seize the moment. And if you ask me why you should bother to do that, I could tell you that the grave's a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace. Nor do they sing there, or write, or argue, or see the tidal bore on the Amazon, or touch their children. And that's what there is to do and get it while you can and good luck at it.”
―
This is a quote worth reading again.
“I'm not telling you to make the world better, because I don't think that progress is necessarily part of the package. I'm just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it. To look at it. To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it. To seize the moment. And if you ask me why you should bother to do that, I could tell you that the grave's a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace. Nor do they sing there, or write, or argue, or see the tidal bore on the Amazon, or touch their children. And that's what there is to do and get it while you can and good luck at it.”
―
The world is changing. Yes, the world is always changing, but there is a new awareness. Not just an awareness but there is action as well. Sometimes the action is quiet and sometimes the action is loud. The world needs action. From us. For us. I am feeling hopeful that the world is realizing that kindness, understanding, and movement towards action, is a cure for so much that ails us on this earth and within. Small action, grand action. Just action. Understanding our own racial, religious, gender, etc. biases. Understanding that the system is and has been inherently flawed and accepting that. Realizing those truths don't make us weak but strong. Realizing those truths doesn't make us divided but connected. Realizing that meeting these truths does not include being defensive but rather includes an open mind. Understanding that we can actively appreciate, be inherently different in our experiences, our roles are gray and not defined by gender or race, and yet still be one world. Magic can be found in the nuances.
I recently saw Don't Look Up in the theatre. I have been watching a lot of movies lately. It has truly been an escape for me that I have appreciated in a time when I am ebbing and flowing with thought. I am in the dark theatre, getting lost in a story and characters, the soundtrack, the moment.
Don't Look Up is a satire about being so distracted and so disengaged with the world that its citizens won't even look up to see impending doom. Don't Look Up is about looking for individual gain instead of working together or caring about the end of the planet. Don't Look Up is about cherishing each moment and living actively in the world. Don't Look Up is about not looking how we as individual citizens fit into the greater world and society. To go back to a previous post, be a friend to the whole human race.
Music has always been an outlet for me. Even more so, it has become a form of therapy. When I was working (still feels so strange and sad to say that), I would take a 30 minute lunch and I would walk. I would walk downtown in Augusta. I would bring my air pods and I would truly escape into the music. I would play the same songs on repeat - I even have a playlist named repeat! - and I would just walk. I wasn't walking for exercise though it was. I wasn't walking for stress relief, though it was. I wasn't walking to get somewhere, though I did. I wanted to create foot traffic in our downtown, even if I was fairly alone in that foot traffic. I wanted to experience the potential of the city and I wanted to find the diamonds that are there waiting to be found. I wanted space and I found it, in the music and the pace. Music makes me feel, which makes me alive.
Is it a contradiction to discuss the necessity of finding space within (through breathing, music, watching a film) while also needing to be present in the moment and an active part of the world in which we live? I find comfort in the paradox. One leads to the other perhaps and once we become more engaged, we begin taking action and finally, all are able to look up at the same sky, with similar goals.
Music to put on: Run (Taylor's version) by Taylor Swift
Book to read: Find me by Andre Aciman
Dish to Cook: Fresh Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce and Burrata
Love and peace.
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