frighteningly reminiscent of those chain e-mails I used to get when I used AOL in middle school, but there’s no thinking involved, so why not?
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Put your music player on shuffle (ALL MUSIC).
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the game from.
________________________
IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OK?” YOU SAY:
hold your breath – the acorn
WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
you’re no god – laura marling
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
this time is the last time (live) – mae
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
the predatory wasp of the palisades is out to get us – sufjan stevens
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
plans – grizzly bear
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
tout doucement – feist
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
all our summer songs – saturday looks good to me
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
all you have to do – jet
WHAT IS 2 + 2?
i thought i saw your face today – she & him
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
the dirtiest queen – lovedrug (hahahah)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
you can bring me flowers – ray lamontagne
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
the people – common
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
i shot william h. macy – head automatica
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
the weight of glory – thrice
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
pure trash – dosh (uhoh, this is unfortunate)
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
the radiator hums – cursive
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
firey crash – andrew bird (note to self: avoid planes)
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
welcome to the working week – elvis costello
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
ask the lonely – journey
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
simple economics – pedro the lion (this.. wow.. this is sad)
WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
diamonds on the inside – ben harper (that sounds like a weird disease)
HOW WILL YOU DIE?
time to dance – panic! at the disco (i’m okay with this)
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
time stops – explosions in the sky
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
a clean shot – the myriad
WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
2nd ave., 11 a.m. – ted leo and the harmacists
WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
golly sandra – eisley
DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
white tooth man – iron & wine (whaaaat….)
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
haiti – the arcade fire
WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
what wills stay? – denison witmer
WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
i want a warning – idlewild
Filed under: reflection, updates | Tags: experience, future, pursuit, stillness, thoughts, time
I left san diego on november 26. I arrived in portland on december 2. today is january 27.
time has callously marched on despite my hopes to stop it, reverse it, or have it move forward faster than at the rate of one day per day. and so it progresses without discrimination or pity.
maybe that’s why I find myself becoming possessed by aspirations dyed deeply in what is ahead. it’s easy to become enamored with a life not yet realized, especially during a time when the public seems to be turning its collective head toward new beginnings. and that’s okay. just looking back at the race for the presidency, there’s a reason (aside from all things W) barack obama’s rhetoric of hope and change struck such a deep and natural chord with the majority of american voters.
I admit that, right now, I’m stuck in the pursuit of the what-is-to-come: a paying job, relational healing, a sense of permanence and belonging in this new city. I don’t anticipate any of these things to come easily, and I’m at peace with that. however, I can’t help but believe that this constant pursuit of such things is only part of the picture.
being still is certainly a lost art (to me, at least). I can’t listen to a 3 1/2-minute song from beginning to end, no less pause my life to let both the treasures and dregs of daily life float past me unconcerned for and untouched. I also think it requires a gigantic spirit of concession for me to be still, since:
stillness forces me to relinquish control of the seemingly controllable.
stillness forces me to stop shouting into the distance and, rather, listen to what surrounds me immediately.
stillness forces me to value who I am at this time, not just the frilly words that describe who I want to become some day.
stillness forces me to remember my promises, not make more.
and, most importantly, stillness reminds me to embrace the parts of life that don’t fit neatly into the boxes I’ve created to make my life manageable and safe.
Never forget: We are alive within mysteries.
-Wendell Berry
what a concept! we are not failures within mysteries. we are not hopeless, lost, or resigned within mysteries. we are alive within them.
in an odd way, my pursuit of the unrealized can be taken as an attempt to impose my will (and my wishes) on the future to shape my life ahead, minimize variables, and in effect, create a life dry of any mystery. this isn’t to say goal-setting, preparing, and working toward results is bad. rather, I think it’s the fetishization of personal expectations as the be-all, end-all that lends itself to a shortsighted and heavy-handed approach to the whole of the human experience.
for me, now – when the mystery seems to be the greatest and most overwhelming – is the time to pump the brakes a bit on my pursuit and just be still. to listen. to trust. to remember. to be alive.
let’s see if I can do it for 3 1/2 minutes.
