wooh whee whaa it is fall!! this is my favorite season, yes I know maybe that is unrelatable or very artist-like of me. Anyway, seasons; had me thinking.
My parents moved back to Amsterdam last week (which was hectic and gave me a fever, literally) and lead me to sit in trams more than I usually do. And there they were: noise-canceling headphones. The greatest invention of the century. Like, I really can’t live without them. They move me into a different world. It is not even that I don’t like the noise on the trams or don’t want to talk to people, it is the sensation of being able to create your own bubble, a different scenery. Maybe it also has to do with control, we humans (read: i ) love control. And something I still can’t seem to grasp is, how come we all love being in different worlds, think gaming, drugs, movies, music (i think this list can go on forever) but we can’t seem to really be happy in the present moment? How come we can’t see that as a change of season, as a fantasy?
I say we because I assume that you know we live in a mental health crisis. Globally, 1 out of every 4 people will be impacted by poor mental health or mental illness at some point in their lives. And yes, that terrifies me. I think this number is also shockingly high because of the last 2 (3?) years being i-don’t-have-the-words-to-describe-terrible. But, I also wonder if this has to do with our wanting to be in control.
Yesterday, I was having coffee with a friend and we also touched upon these topics, they pointed out to me that somehow it seems that in society we often forget we need sadness, anger, and emptiness in order to feel happy, alive, and excited. One can’t live without the other. This forgetfulness we see on most social media platforms, everything needs to look great and happy. We forget in relation to life and death; some people seem to be terrified of death their whole lives. But how can you be afraid of something that is a given? But then I also realize; if you want to embrace death you need to be able to let go and there she comes bursting in again:
Control.
She is my friend, I really like her, she makes me feel powerful and at ease and smooooth. But she also makes me rigid, scared, stressed, unflexible and maybe even depressed.
So here’s to letting go (at least a little bit) of control, I will try with you.
Hope your day is smooth and flexible at the same time, a great combo in my opinion.
Love,
Flora
Obviously, this song has to be left here: