DAY #31: WHERE YOU RELAX
As I reach the last day of the 31 day photography assignment I had an idea to go with the cliché joke and post a photo of my commode. I knew I would get a two second chuckle, but trying to expound on it would have sucked all of the humor out of it…and what a way to end a month long project. It seemed like more of a visual joke. I felt as though I needed to come up with another idea. So, as I woke up this morning to head out on my morning jog, I was determined to come up with a new idea for the caption “where you relax”. As I always do, I put on my clothes, sneakers, gloves, and headphones and headed out to the street. As I jogged, listening to Janis Joplin’s album “Pearl”, a song I have heard a thousand times came on, “Me And Bobby McGee”. As she sang the line “I’d trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday”, I figured out where I relax.
I have never been a person that has a singular spot to relax. I never say, “oh, I want to unwind, I’m going to the beach (or wherever)”. Listening to music has been a constant in my life for as long as I can remember. From sitting in my bedroom when I was 8 listening to my Elvis and Fats Domino 45’s until today as I steadily make my way through my entire collection of 36,128 songs on my iPod, it has always been something that allows me alone time. Even if I am sitting on an overcrowded bus, this line from the song “Better Living Through Chemistry” by Queens Of The Stone Age says “there’s no one here, and people everywhere, you’re all alone” pretty accurately describes how I feel here sometimes. I live in a foreign country and I always have my iPod with me to drown out what I don’t need (the banter of others close by, crying babies, crowing roosters), while letting me take in what I do want: the beauty that is my surroundings. I think when I look back on this time in my life I will be glad to remember the way the sun rose over the eastern fields out of my window, the herds of sheep grazing nearby, or the sight of babushkas riding their bicycles to drop off their grandchildren at kindergarten- as the children ride without a seat or a helmet, precariously perched on the small shelf above the rear fender, usually reserved for small packages, and holding onto the seat post with both hands- literally for dear life. I like the idea of letting life happen and selectively absorbing what I want from it.
The short if it is that, with music, I can relax in my own head no matter what is taking place around me. In a crowded bazaar or sitting by myself on a park bench- it’s all the same.
I was trying to think of a good lyrical quote to end this post, but, I just realized that of my top 3 favorite songs of all time, one is a true story about a shooting rampage, the second is the true story of a deadly shipwreck, and the third is about the decent into heroin addiction. I don’t think I am a particularly depressed person, though you’d never know it from those options! I think Lipps Inc. said it best when they sang the lines, “Talk about, talk about, Talk about movin', Gotta move on, Gotta move on, Gotta move on, Won't you take me to Funkytown”.
I have an active imagination and music of all kinds helps me develop it. And that helps me to relax.
(…and now back to your regularly unscheduled blog updates)
I have never been a person that has a singular spot to relax. I never say, “oh, I want to unwind, I’m going to the beach (or wherever)”. Listening to music has been a constant in my life for as long as I can remember. From sitting in my bedroom when I was 8 listening to my Elvis and Fats Domino 45’s until today as I steadily make my way through my entire collection of 36,128 songs on my iPod, it has always been something that allows me alone time. Even if I am sitting on an overcrowded bus, this line from the song “Better Living Through Chemistry” by Queens Of The Stone Age says “there’s no one here, and people everywhere, you’re all alone” pretty accurately describes how I feel here sometimes. I live in a foreign country and I always have my iPod with me to drown out what I don’t need (the banter of others close by, crying babies, crowing roosters), while letting me take in what I do want: the beauty that is my surroundings. I think when I look back on this time in my life I will be glad to remember the way the sun rose over the eastern fields out of my window, the herds of sheep grazing nearby, or the sight of babushkas riding their bicycles to drop off their grandchildren at kindergarten- as the children ride without a seat or a helmet, precariously perched on the small shelf above the rear fender, usually reserved for small packages, and holding onto the seat post with both hands- literally for dear life. I like the idea of letting life happen and selectively absorbing what I want from it.
The short if it is that, with music, I can relax in my own head no matter what is taking place around me. In a crowded bazaar or sitting by myself on a park bench- it’s all the same.
I was trying to think of a good lyrical quote to end this post, but, I just realized that of my top 3 favorite songs of all time, one is a true story about a shooting rampage, the second is the true story of a deadly shipwreck, and the third is about the decent into heroin addiction. I don’t think I am a particularly depressed person, though you’d never know it from those options! I think Lipps Inc. said it best when they sang the lines, “Talk about, talk about, Talk about movin', Gotta move on, Gotta move on, Gotta move on, Won't you take me to Funkytown”.
I have an active imagination and music of all kinds helps me develop it. And that helps me to relax.
(…and now back to your regularly unscheduled blog updates)
Sim
What a great month of blogs. Thanks for some insight into your small section of the world. You make it sound so big. Love, MOM
ReplyDeleteGrowing up as an only child in NYC I had to find ways to entertain myself, inspire myself, un-depress myself and relax in my own head, and music was my choice. Music was always part of my life growing up, a little different than what Sim experienced. I remember falling asleep in a van full of my mom's Italian friends as they all sang their familiar war songs, which I can now sing as well. When I got older and could buy my own music I developed my own taste, classic rock to new wave and even some synthesized classical. I think I was the first of my friends to have a Sony Walkman cassette player...how awesome it was to be riding the subway to school in my own world where everything was just fine while surrounded by the craziness of NYC. If a little of the world tried to get in, well I could just turn up my music. Just like Sim I could tune out or check in whenever something interesting came up. Fast forward 20 years, and I am now living in Clifton Park, NY – no more subway rides for me, and tuning out the world while driving isn’t really a good idea but the radio is always on. The place I can tune out the world is while running or walking, and that is where I relax. The angrier the song the better, and thanks to Sim I have come to love Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie and a few others I can’t think of at the moment. Sure some people enjoy running while listening to the sounds of nature, their footfalls as they run, and I can get into that too…but I really enjoy running to my music. It’s never so loud that I can’t hear what’s going on around me, and hearing my footfall helps me with my breathing – all part of the rhythm in my head that gets me through a long run. One of my favorite ways to end my day was to come home and take a walk with Sim, most days I would get home too late and he’d already gone out. But on occasion I’d get home early enough that he still hadn’t gone out. We’d put on our headphone and go out for our walk “together.” I think anyone one else looking at us as we walked with our own individual headphones on, listening to our own music, not saying a word to each other would think…”now there is a couple doomed to fail. They can’t even walk and have a nice conversation together. “ Our walks “together” was one of the most relaxing and wonderful parts of my day. We both love music, we enjoy walking and listening to the beats of our own drums…together. Every once and awhile we point to our respective iMusic players to let the other one know what we’re listening to, a favorite tune the other one might appreciate, and then back to the walk. Music is where we both relax…together or alone.
ReplyDelete