Day to day life is pretty much a routine now. Wake up at five, commute to Boston, get in the office by eight. Internship is pretty dull, doing work that is half understood, only to instill a fear for what major I have chosen. Procrastination sprinkled with side projects to kill time. Lunch time is pretty much my highlight of the day. I had to teach myself how to cook chicken last summer, and apart from feeling like I roll the dice with death from salmonella, I have become pretty efficient at it. Sure, Gordon Ramsay would still make a spectacular criticism and would scream in my face from tasting it, but I’d take that as a compliment. Still, I make a pretty good “zen” bowl, which consists of spinach, rice, beans and chicken, all smothered in Sriracha. Unfortunately, lunch is usually bleak, and it all relates to the trigger that literally dampens my mood, every, single, day.
I complain about many things. In the larger scale of things, my problems are quite minute, but to the person itself, it is their problem and it encompasses their whole existence, so it seems like an actual big problem. Not getting enough sleep, trouble at internship, too much homework. All of these pretty archaic when compared to the rest of the world, and that right there is the problem. Two, maybe three bites into my bowl before it starts creeping up on me. “Murder this, rape that, elections going downhill, an accident here, death there, refugees fleeing, people killing other people. Weather killing people. People killing nature beyond repair. A constant flow of bad words, bad situations, coming one after another with no end in sight. Great, the news is on.
I have nothing against the news. It is important to stay informed. My issue is with the fact that it makes me feel sick to my stomach. It makes my soul ache. I have to sit here and eat my meal while hearing pretty much how the world has gone to shit, and it looks like there is no turning back. I have to see just how inhumane society has turned out to be. It is shameful, a true disgrace. Everything is at an unbalance, and all I see ahead is turmoil. Every day, at lunch, I have to hear of lives being ruined, ended, or how they will be. Nothing ever positive is said, and now that I reflect on that, I understand why this world is the way it is.
People are angry. People are greedy and selfish. All it takes is a couple of strolls here and there to really notice how far we have strayed from the path. I have seen complete strangers bicker like sworn enemies over who gets to go on the subway as it pulls up to the station. People shove, and get in the way, pacing violently and roughly to make you know they are there, and you are not moving them at all. It’s everywhere. People are irritated. Go to a concert, see people clash and shove and get pissed, even though everyone is there under a common goal, of enjoyment, not conflict. Go to a party and it's all about if you’re good enough for it. Do you fill out the credentials to get in? Let’s say you do, there is nothing like running into an alcohol-fueled rage, where punches start flying instead of everyone enjoying themselves. Walk around campus, around a city, and tell me how many strangers actually smile at you as you walk by? All you hear is honking and rushing, people driving getting pissed at people walking, rushing them to move before they run them over because there isn’t an ounce of patience left in their system.
Like I said before, all these problems seem annoying, and all it takes is to take a look at around the world where war is ravaging the land. Money, corporations, conspiracy theories, taking people’s freedoms, conflict, law breaking, terrorism, fear. What the hell happened? When did we become so efficient at hurting each other? We not only stopped there, oh no. Nature is the biggest casualty here. Just last week, the Great Barrier Reef has been added to the list of things humanity has managed to destroy beyond repair. Countless species all erased from existence due to our stupidity to act accordingly in situations like these.
It makes me uneasy. It makes me feel utterly horrible that I complain about my daily life, when everything else is in ruins, is burning and ready to crumble into ruins, or is next on the target list. I am ashamed of our race. We call ourselves sentient beings, all knowing, the apex predators, etc. Please… were just conceited assholes. So much for being the smartest living thing on the planet. I hate it. I become irate. I weep inside, and at some points even, on the outside.
Nature hits back, and when she does, she hits with full force. Gaia is unforgiving, merciless, and above all, furious. Natural disasters getting out of control, hurricane this, volcano that, earthquake here, drought and fire there. You might think I’m an idiot for believing such a thing, but it’s something I can’t explain other than I can feel the anger. Deep, deep down in my core, in the darkest corner, I can feel our mother weeping for what we have done to her and her gifts. Not two days ago I had a complete breakdown after everything had been too much. A day that was meant to be full of joy, and happiness, turned into me falling to my knees, lying on the ground, crying uncontrollably because of the whirlwind that the world has become. I couldn’t take it, I was questioning everything. Screaming to the ceiling, unable to understand how we got to where we are and why we let it get so bad.
It’s deeply disturbing to get the feeling that life is not good anymore. Existential fears are some of the lowest points I have ever hit in my life, and boy did I hit the bottom this past time. I couldn’t find any value to it, I had lost faith in humanity. Naturally, when things get so incredibly messed up, music helps me wind down. There are many songs that help me get through tough times, many artists, many albums. Among the huge collection, one song stuck with me after I dived into the lyrics and their meaning a bit more. A lot of people don’t do this I think, but I find it incredible to look into the lyrics of a song not only to be able to read them and hopefully learn them by heart but, to understand their meaning, the reason behind them, the environment in which they came to be. Understanding songs in this manner sheds a whole new light on songs to an extent that the connection you can have with them becomes inconceivable to anyone else that is not yourself, and vice versa to people with their songs that they get attached to.
Following the mere dark nature of the world we live in, the world lost a great artist on September 18th, 1970. The newest member of the 27 Club, Jimi Hendrix had been found dead in a hotel in London. For those who do not know what the 27 Club is, it is a very elite group of exceptional people, whose art was so influential as well as incredibly beautiful, who all died at the age of 27 due to some sort of drug abuse, violent incident, or even in some cases, murder. For the full list, which is quite extensive, it's as simple as a Google away, only to see exceptional people like Joplin, Morrison, Cobain paired up with their horrific death. Alas, another dark detail of the kind of world we live in. Anyways, that is not the point right now, even though any time I listen to music by them, it shames me that I will never experience them live, or even hear what more they had to offer this sad, sad world we call life.
Among Hendrix’s impressive and all out epic tunes, one stood out because of its meaning and scale. “Up From The Skies” is just perfect. The guitar in the back, bubbling as if it were liquid, making you move. The drums ever so slightly carrying the beat, and Hendrix, basically whispering with his smooth voice, never raising his voice too much deliver such a relaxing tune at the same time as being a complete jam. The guitar makes its way from the right side of your head to the left, traveling all across your body, with that absolutely amazing solo that I have no way of comprehending how a human being can orchestrate that kind of sound. I mean, the guitar seems that is him, just an extension. Pure and utter magic, for three minutes that is.
Inspect the lyrics I did, and what I found was heartbreaking. To put it in easy words, the song is about an alien coming back to Earth and finding it not at all as he had left it. He can’t believe what has happened. He’s confused as to why it has changed so drastically, for it used to be so good. It breaks my heart because the world that I live in now is not one I would want Jimi to come back to. I want him to stay dead; I am ashamed to show him what we have become. I wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye. Every time I hear his songs, I swear it's as if he were right there beside me, singing in my ear. I can’t explain it, all of his recordings are like that. There’s something about his voice that if I had my eyes closed, I’d think he was there just like I was. It would be so convincing, that I’d think his spirit had somehow made it back to shed some good vibes wherever his sound reached.
Jimi, if you ever manage to return, and descend Up From Above, I hope with all my might that we had at least figured something out to amend this issue. Jimi, I hope one day I can tell you that we will be alright. I want to tell you we fixed ourselves. I want to tell you that everything is back on the path and that your aspiration of love and peace was reached. Maybe one day Jimi, but for now I’ll just try to be the best person I can be for myself, for my friends, for my fellow human being, for my home, for my species that share existence with me, for the cosmos. All while listening to your incredible music which I am so incredibly grateful for. Until we meet Jimi, your friend Down From The Lands, Diego. ~ad astra ultraque
