Why do we even need a 'bucket list'? Waiting until death is in our scope until we dare to live the way we always wanted to live - what's the reason in it all? We give some reason, like 'life is complicated', 'I have work to do', or some other excuse. But no matter the reason, life does not come our way because we don't put it first. It's good to be responsible, to be sure - but when work comes between us and living life to the fullest... It is too much. Often I find myself up to my neck in work, and wishing it were not so. Where is the time to spend with those I care about? Why am I a million miles from the people I care about most of all? Trying to 'achieve' and 'fulfill my potential' - sometimes it feels superficial. So what if I achieve all that I can achieve? What is any of it worth if, in the end, I am alone? If I have told no one I love that I loved them - and told them how much I loved them??
It bothers me that people (including myself) live so casually. As if tomorrow is a guarantee... Only those who have had terminal illnesses (especially those who survive) can appreciate this idea fully. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. A fire in my house could burn me to death while I'm sleeping. I could die in a car accident. Any number of things! I don't mean to be morbid, but not all deaths give us warning. Life is short - and time is always, always running out. Youth, in particular, gives the illusion that life lasts forever. But it doesn't. Yet we live as though we have all eternity to say what we should just say, do what we should just do. Why the procrastination? Do you think it will mean more in the midst of an important moment? Do you think it will mean more if you're near death, or in a dire situation? Love is meaningful not because it is expressed sparingly and lightly, but because it is expressed constantly and deeply.
The tendency of people to live such superficial lives bothers me. What really gets me is when they think their work will give them lives of meaning - which in some cases, can be very true. But where they might go wrong is stopping there. I can't stand workaholics. If you want to know why I'm not a better violinist than I am, it's because I can't stand to work my life away. There are much more important things to me than just practicing all the time. Life is short. Take advantage of every opportunity you want to take, and don't let life pass you by. Sure, you may have regrets - but at least they'll be regrets about daring to live, daring to love... Instead of regrets that you never took a chance in living, that you never took a chance in loving.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Hello & Welcome
My first blog entry... Hm. Honestly, I never thought I would cave to this idea of a public journal. I mean, seriously! Firstly, who would even care enough to bother reading this stuff? And secondly, some things are to remain in the private sphere - as in, not Anywhere where Google can keep track of it and show it to everyone in the universe who searches for me. That said, there are things I'll say here, and things I will absolutely never say here. What business is mine will stay mine - and that's that. But, on to the real meat of this entry...
I love pop music. I always have, and, don't get me wrong, I still do. I listen to Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears. But what pop music has evolved to be? It takes absolutely no creativity whatsoever to make chord progressions over mad trance beats - which is basically what so much pop music (at least on the radio and music TV stations) has become. It's disappointing. I remember when pop music actually had real music, with real melodies. And it wasn't that long ago, either.
Does music reflect the age, or does the age reflect the music? Perhaps both. We are all, in one way or another, a product of our time. The current time, being, of course, one of instant information, instant gratification. (I like to call it 'information overload' - blame that on growing up in the country...) We can hardly pay attention on one thing for more than the length of an average pop song (probably around 2-3 minutes). We want more, and we want it now - that's the attitude of our age. Yet did we not bring this age upon ourselves? Constantly pushing toward getting things done more quickly, more efficiently... It is an age of ever-growing anxiety in the race against the clock. And the anxiety is seen in our music.
It takes time to compose a song - even a pop song. But the time is not taken to write a proper song and melody these days. The dance beats throb in our ears even when we lie down to sleep at night, and in the morning we wake up tired and unrefreshed - but the coffee and the beat keeps us going. (At what cost?) But, I tell you, it is worthless to me. It's not to say that I don't enjoy the pop music of today - some of it I quite like. I'm only lamenting the fact that more creativity isn't put into the popular music of my age.
I love pop music. I always have, and, don't get me wrong, I still do. I listen to Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears. But what pop music has evolved to be? It takes absolutely no creativity whatsoever to make chord progressions over mad trance beats - which is basically what so much pop music (at least on the radio and music TV stations) has become. It's disappointing. I remember when pop music actually had real music, with real melodies. And it wasn't that long ago, either.
Does music reflect the age, or does the age reflect the music? Perhaps both. We are all, in one way or another, a product of our time. The current time, being, of course, one of instant information, instant gratification. (I like to call it 'information overload' - blame that on growing up in the country...) We can hardly pay attention on one thing for more than the length of an average pop song (probably around 2-3 minutes). We want more, and we want it now - that's the attitude of our age. Yet did we not bring this age upon ourselves? Constantly pushing toward getting things done more quickly, more efficiently... It is an age of ever-growing anxiety in the race against the clock. And the anxiety is seen in our music.
It takes time to compose a song - even a pop song. But the time is not taken to write a proper song and melody these days. The dance beats throb in our ears even when we lie down to sleep at night, and in the morning we wake up tired and unrefreshed - but the coffee and the beat keeps us going. (At what cost?) But, I tell you, it is worthless to me. It's not to say that I don't enjoy the pop music of today - some of it I quite like. I'm only lamenting the fact that more creativity isn't put into the popular music of my age.
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