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I love Winter. I appreciate the depth it adds to life and the space around us, the experience of survival, and the way it forces our recognition of being part of something larger and outside of our control, but Winters can be rough. Winter has always been a test for the living. It can grind away at your body and spirit and make the natural rhythm of your lows even lower. The overcast skies. The dead foliage. The biting wind. The cold. The dark. The cold and the dark.
The time change is always the hardest part for me (did I mention the cold and the dark?), which is why I created my "it's cold and and dark outside (and I fear it will soon want to come within)" playlist. It helps hold my hand through the initial seasonal change, and then stays in a steady rotation to keep the length of the season from really starting to wear away at me (but at least now the days are steadily getting longer - a much needed mental shift!)
They talk about winterizing your home and your body, but what about winterizing your mind? I think a good playlist is an essential part of this! Anyway, if you're looking for sunny and happy songs, these aren't them. I like songs that commiserate rather than compensate.
Jan 8, 2025
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It’s time to make winter spring!! But in the meantime….
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I don't know how well this actually answers your initial question, I think it's more of a counterpoint to some of the stuff people have already said, but here it goes.
In the past (prior to social media or search engines) specific styles, specialized knowledge, and niche awareness actually took effort. You had to go out into the world and find a scene, be accepted, participate in it, contribute to it, and learn from others with specific knowledge within the specific sub- or counter-cultural scene. It took time, effort, and experience to craft an identity. Nowadays people cycle through various identities and trends like commodities because it takes no effort (they're sold to them by social media algorithms, influencers, brand accounts, etc.). It comes to you in your phone without you ever even having to leave the house or put in the time to discover it or participate in it (you just follow specific people or subscribe). You can be a passive observer or consumer, not an active contributor. As a result, you're not invested or tied down and committed to that core identity. You can cosplay depending on your mood or who you want to momentarily convey yourself as, because it's easy. Essentially, being a poser has become normalized. An identity is now something to be momentarily consumed and affected, rather than grown, built, and developed over time.
Granted, it's always been different in regards to "mass" culture and popular trends (both in the past and now). Those are impossible to miss and were always monopolized by specific trend setting institutions, but always by the time it gets to that point, the actual initial counter- or sub-culture that inspired it has already been coopted and has started to disintegrate under the weight and attention of mass consumption.
Feb 18, 2024
It's an action deserving of its own nickname. My cat's name is Gomez, but when he crosses his paws like this, he turns into Hodgkins Plumpersocks.
Feb 2, 2024
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I feel like it gives you clarity. For example, I just watched Dunkirk, albeit on a plane, and I thought it was awful. Just the most boring, dull, dimensionless, dialogue-less, character-less (like we know nothing about the characters or their backstory, so why even care? They're all just cheap stale tropes) movie. After we landed, I checked online to see what people actually thought of it and was absolutely blown away to see it receive such high ratings and have so many people claiming it was the best nolan movie ever - and I like a lot of nolan's stuff, so I'm not just a hater.
Anyway, I think part of it is just me getting old, but I like how the distance of not immediately consuming a piece of art can help you avoid getting swept up in the opinions of others - or I suppose it could also have the opposite effect and lead to your taste being completely tainted by the opinions of others. So the other key is to not have a good memory (conveniently a byproduct of getting older), that way you don't remember the opinions of others by the time you finally get around to watching it.
Mar 2, 2024