Other than math, there's another thing you do believe in: "Music is our Savior."
And, like you, I turn to music to help me find some calm amongst the chaos. Timothy Leary's words of "tuning out" couldn't be more appropriate. There is so much I can't control that all I can do is control what I can control, and sometimes tuning out the doom and gloom is beneficial to my mental health.
America is a deeply violent country. We profit from war; we fight for the rights to own weapons of war; we make sickening horror films like 'Terrifyer' and disgusting first-person shooter games for our entertainment. We scream obscenities at players on the violent American football field and cheer when the opponent's star is injured. We also use words like "it looks like a war zone" to describe a natural disaster. The insensitivity of that phrase never fails to irritate me. Don't get me wrong, the recent horrible path of destruction from hurricanes is awful—but a "war zone?" Really? A natural disaster is out of our control. War is completely in our control and leaves human caused pain and death in its path. We also have no clue what it would be like to live through the Balkans of the 1990s, or Ukraine, Gaza, Syria, Sudan, Rwanda, or Europe in 1940.
We have a charcoal drawing of a nude framed in our bathroom. I remember when we first moved back to the States, a parent of one of our daughter's friends complained about it (WTF? Who is this gatekeeper of our house?). Yet their son was obsessed with 'Call of Duty.' I quickly remembered that American parents feel more comfortable with their kids watching or engaging in graphic violence and want to shield them from a drawing of the human body. I don't get it.
Up here in Portland, I live in a political bubble. There are Kamala signs everywhere. In 2016, the lawns throughout the city were for Bernie. But leave the bubble of the "anarchist jurisdiction" and sanctuary city of Portland, and politically most of Oregon becomes West Virginia with a more dramatic landscape. I also grew up in Ohio (albeit Cleveland), so I know that what I may see in Portland doesn't necessarily represent the pulse of the nation.
I too worry about November and beyond.
Returning to music, our savior—Numero are hitting the road and doing a few pop ups on the West Coast. They will be in Portland next weekend. 😎
I've thought about the violence of the US a lot, and something that I come back to is he image of a dog left alone in the house all day: when it can't run, chase things, whatever it is that dogs like to do, it instead tears up the sofa, the garbage, the house...when the US can't wage war in other countries (or does so in secret proxy), it wages war on itself. Truly there is a strange psychosis that comes with living in America. Especially as prude, yet overtly sexual this place is. The country has a weird complex.
Love this post, Jamie.
Other than math, there's another thing you do believe in: "Music is our Savior."
And, like you, I turn to music to help me find some calm amongst the chaos. Timothy Leary's words of "tuning out" couldn't be more appropriate. There is so much I can't control that all I can do is control what I can control, and sometimes tuning out the doom and gloom is beneficial to my mental health.
America is a deeply violent country. We profit from war; we fight for the rights to own weapons of war; we make sickening horror films like 'Terrifyer' and disgusting first-person shooter games for our entertainment. We scream obscenities at players on the violent American football field and cheer when the opponent's star is injured. We also use words like "it looks like a war zone" to describe a natural disaster. The insensitivity of that phrase never fails to irritate me. Don't get me wrong, the recent horrible path of destruction from hurricanes is awful—but a "war zone?" Really? A natural disaster is out of our control. War is completely in our control and leaves human caused pain and death in its path. We also have no clue what it would be like to live through the Balkans of the 1990s, or Ukraine, Gaza, Syria, Sudan, Rwanda, or Europe in 1940.
We have a charcoal drawing of a nude framed in our bathroom. I remember when we first moved back to the States, a parent of one of our daughter's friends complained about it (WTF? Who is this gatekeeper of our house?). Yet their son was obsessed with 'Call of Duty.' I quickly remembered that American parents feel more comfortable with their kids watching or engaging in graphic violence and want to shield them from a drawing of the human body. I don't get it.
Up here in Portland, I live in a political bubble. There are Kamala signs everywhere. In 2016, the lawns throughout the city were for Bernie. But leave the bubble of the "anarchist jurisdiction" and sanctuary city of Portland, and politically most of Oregon becomes West Virginia with a more dramatic landscape. I also grew up in Ohio (albeit Cleveland), so I know that what I may see in Portland doesn't necessarily represent the pulse of the nation.
I too worry about November and beyond.
Returning to music, our savior—Numero are hitting the road and doing a few pop ups on the West Coast. They will be in Portland next weekend. 😎
I've thought about the violence of the US a lot, and something that I come back to is he image of a dog left alone in the house all day: when it can't run, chase things, whatever it is that dogs like to do, it instead tears up the sofa, the garbage, the house...when the US can't wage war in other countries (or does so in secret proxy), it wages war on itself. Truly there is a strange psychosis that comes with living in America. Especially as prude, yet overtly sexual this place is. The country has a weird complex.
But music will always be the salve.
Good analogy!
Great song! Great words, friend. I am right there with you in your thoughts.