To muse, to dream, to ponder
Oct. 8th, 2001 04:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheI like connecting. When I was at Grinnell, I even had a notesboard called Connections, where people would have kind of "personal classifieds". Most posts went under the "looking for friends to do [something]" headings, though once in a while we did get the occasional brave soul who put out a romantic ad.
Language, for me, is my way of connecting with the larger world. I've come to realize that verbalizing, writing, singing... these are direct ways that I interact with the world at large. I've been in love with the English language for quite some time now; one could even say it has been my longest lasting love affair in my entire lifetime. For language, I have an unconditional love. I am a poet; a grammarian; a fretful, perfectionistic speller; an editor; an author; an alto.
My music choices reflected how "non-ordinary" my intellectual pursuits were. Not only did I enjoy the classic '70s black music sound offered by my parents' musical libraries, I sought out new musical choices. For some reason, the epitome of that was my infatuation with Cum on Feel the Noize when I was in third grade. That was my favorite song, and only one radio station in Detroit played it: 96.3 FM. They played a lot of music the stations my family usually to didn't. So I extended my personal musical ear, and in the end (or, rather, the present) I have been rewarded.
Since dating first Corey, and now F, I see now what commonalities exist where "white" music and "black" music intersect. I'd been aware of earlier examples; I was already well-versed in how black gospel music at the turn of the 20th century had influences on many different genres in the '20s, '30s, and '40s. (Let me never say my American Studies major was worthless, or was not worth the price of the education.) But I didn't personally know any modern common points (not simply individual "crossover" songs)... until I allowed myself to listen to the Beatles.
F says that it's only a matter of time until I learn to have an appreciation for Elvis's music. A part of me considers him a con man, because his earliest big hit, "Hound Dog", was a direct cover of a song someone else had already sung. [At the moment, the singer's name has escaped me. But she was a large, black woman, that much I know!] His style had been done before; just not before large numbers of white audiences.
I appreciate Elvis for doing something that blacks alone could not do: make hip gyrations on television be considered not-evil. Like the suffrage and anti-slavery movements in the nineteenth centuries, wider American society was not ready to accept cultural change until someone white and/or male stepped into the fray and was ready to accept condemnation for espousing certain beliefs or behaviors. Who cared that a slave wanted freedom? From the slaveowner's point of view, that's only a natural feeling for a slave to have. No one cared until a white person was willing to sacrifice his or her position in American society in order to advance his or her ideals.
We have scared the revolutionary within us into silence. There are just not enough people who challenge the status quo anymore. We as Americans are scared to question the current order. We accept things as they are given to us. We are instantly patriotic when the occasion calls. We instinctively evoke a sense of duty and pride in nationalistic borders and nationalistic ideas. How do we do this? This is an amazing display of subconscious human will, that we as people are able to do this simply out of the blue, with no conscious effort. But what is patriotism? Why is it desirable? As we focus on our patriotism, what remains in that unavoidable blind spot we've created for ourselves?
(Make no mistake about it; a war on terrorism is a terroristic war in and of itself.)
We as Americans have been taught to ingest daily forms of entertainment (and, as George Carlin said years ago, the news is a form of entertainment), and to not argue when it comes to "big matters". We have been taught to accept it whenever our individual freedoms are incrementally taken away and sold to the government (or whomever else may be occupying a similar position of power). That the Constitution of the United States is now a legal document to "get around" instead of "comply with" shows that the spirit of the country runs counter to the Geist of the American Revolution.
I am an American. Of this, I feel incredibly lucky, blessed, and thankful. At the same time, I feel that I cannot rest of my laurels and enjoy this land while it still has so much further to go before it truly reflects the spirit in which the documents of its founding were written. I am an activist because I am an American. When I protest against war, I am not protesting against the actions of the United States as a country. I am protesting actions that are counter to peace. Violence is inherently counter to peace. I sincerely believe that we could all collectively awaken and agree to global peace. But we, right now, still cling too tightly to the comforts of a border-enforced system. We like nationalism. We like being able to be isolationists. Americans in particular like being the only economic superpower in the world. We are inherently comfort creatures. We know that without the capitalistic system, we would be exponentially less comfortable than we are now.
What do humans require to flourish? Nourishment, security, love; and these concepts' opposites: deprivation, insecurity, fear. These elements of experientialism spark progress in the human creature; these yins and yangs provide him with the dualistic forces of maturation. In return, maturation allows the human to manipulate these elements as the instruments as well as the music they create; the human creature learns to use these six concepts in order to navigate through life. He does this by intuitively effecting dynamic balance, using his being to turn the cyclic spin of each yin/yang.
Language, for me, is my way of connecting with the larger world. I've come to realize that verbalizing, writing, singing... these are direct ways that I interact with the world at large. I've been in love with the English language for quite some time now; one could even say it has been my longest lasting love affair in my entire lifetime. For language, I have an unconditional love. I am a poet; a grammarian; a fretful, perfectionistic speller; an editor; an author; an alto.
My music choices reflected how "non-ordinary" my intellectual pursuits were. Not only did I enjoy the classic '70s black music sound offered by my parents' musical libraries, I sought out new musical choices. For some reason, the epitome of that was my infatuation with Cum on Feel the Noize when I was in third grade. That was my favorite song, and only one radio station in Detroit played it: 96.3 FM. They played a lot of music the stations my family usually to didn't. So I extended my personal musical ear, and in the end (or, rather, the present) I have been rewarded.
Since dating first Corey, and now F, I see now what commonalities exist where "white" music and "black" music intersect. I'd been aware of earlier examples; I was already well-versed in how black gospel music at the turn of the 20th century had influences on many different genres in the '20s, '30s, and '40s. (Let me never say my American Studies major was worthless, or was not worth the price of the education.) But I didn't personally know any modern common points (not simply individual "crossover" songs)... until I allowed myself to listen to the Beatles.
F says that it's only a matter of time until I learn to have an appreciation for Elvis's music. A part of me considers him a con man, because his earliest big hit, "Hound Dog", was a direct cover of a song someone else had already sung. [At the moment, the singer's name has escaped me. But she was a large, black woman, that much I know!] His style had been done before; just not before large numbers of white audiences.
I appreciate Elvis for doing something that blacks alone could not do: make hip gyrations on television be considered not-evil. Like the suffrage and anti-slavery movements in the nineteenth centuries, wider American society was not ready to accept cultural change until someone white and/or male stepped into the fray and was ready to accept condemnation for espousing certain beliefs or behaviors. Who cared that a slave wanted freedom? From the slaveowner's point of view, that's only a natural feeling for a slave to have. No one cared until a white person was willing to sacrifice his or her position in American society in order to advance his or her ideals.
We have scared the revolutionary within us into silence. There are just not enough people who challenge the status quo anymore. We as Americans are scared to question the current order. We accept things as they are given to us. We are instantly patriotic when the occasion calls. We instinctively evoke a sense of duty and pride in nationalistic borders and nationalistic ideas. How do we do this? This is an amazing display of subconscious human will, that we as people are able to do this simply out of the blue, with no conscious effort. But what is patriotism? Why is it desirable? As we focus on our patriotism, what remains in that unavoidable blind spot we've created for ourselves?
(Make no mistake about it; a war on terrorism is a terroristic war in and of itself.)
We as Americans have been taught to ingest daily forms of entertainment (and, as George Carlin said years ago, the news is a form of entertainment), and to not argue when it comes to "big matters". We have been taught to accept it whenever our individual freedoms are incrementally taken away and sold to the government (or whomever else may be occupying a similar position of power). That the Constitution of the United States is now a legal document to "get around" instead of "comply with" shows that the spirit of the country runs counter to the Geist of the American Revolution.
I am an American. Of this, I feel incredibly lucky, blessed, and thankful. At the same time, I feel that I cannot rest of my laurels and enjoy this land while it still has so much further to go before it truly reflects the spirit in which the documents of its founding were written. I am an activist because I am an American. When I protest against war, I am not protesting against the actions of the United States as a country. I am protesting actions that are counter to peace. Violence is inherently counter to peace. I sincerely believe that we could all collectively awaken and agree to global peace. But we, right now, still cling too tightly to the comforts of a border-enforced system. We like nationalism. We like being able to be isolationists. Americans in particular like being the only economic superpower in the world. We are inherently comfort creatures. We know that without the capitalistic system, we would be exponentially less comfortable than we are now.
What do humans require to flourish? Nourishment, security, love; and these concepts' opposites: deprivation, insecurity, fear. These elements of experientialism spark progress in the human creature; these yins and yangs provide him with the dualistic forces of maturation. In return, maturation allows the human to manipulate these elements as the instruments as well as the music they create; the human creature learns to use these six concepts in order to navigate through life. He does this by intuitively effecting dynamic balance, using his being to turn the cyclic spin of each yin/yang.
(no subject)
Date: 2001-10-23 03:36 pm (UTC)I heartily agree here. Communication and language are the major ways I connect. I get so frustrated with not being able to communicate with people effectively (either due to language/accent issues or just plain distance) that i tend to edit them out of my mind, simply because the frustration is overwhleming for me. I cannot share any of myself without communication, nor can I partake of other people without it. I get so dispondent without that give and take.
F says that it's only a matter of time until I learn to have an appreciation for Elvis's music.
Elvis wasn't a bad musician. But the music wasn't anything compared to the myth. That's what revoluntionized the music world. He wasn't singing anything new. But the sensation was the revolution.