cultural criticism
The Bachelor got cancelled... what does it say about us?: Cultural diagnosticians
The mirror we don’t want Here’s the question nobody in Bachelor Nation is asking: what does it mean that 5 million people watched Season 25 and didn’t flinch, but a TMZ video made the same audience recoil?... Is popular music getting worse?: Declinists
The spectrograms don’t lie Nine chord changes. Fourteen timbres. 18 dB of dynamic range. "Superstition," 1972. Morgan Wallen, "Last Night," 2023. Number one, sixteen weeks. Three chords. 6 dB. The vocal compressed to a 3 dB window. Oh come on. This is not taste.... Has money ruined sports?: Cultural critics
On a Saturday in the Bundesliga, you can stand in the Südtribüne at Borussia Dortmund for under fifteen euros. The Yellow Wall. 24,454 people, standing, in a single steep bank that shakes when they sing.... I struggle with this false belief: If something is meant to be, it would be easy.
Right? WRONG!
Following this train of thought = If something challenges you, you will believe it is not meant for you.
You will misinterpret the resistance + problems as signs that you need to quit.
I know I have. I have seen the blocks, the rejections and procrastination as proof that I am not cut out for my visions.
This mindset guarantees an endless cycle of starting and stopping.
The most rewarding experiences in my life include the heat of resistance + fire of transformation.
That moves you from fear + insecurity into competence + growth.
The fire burns from facing your fears + alchemizing it through practice + action.
This is easier to see in hindsight, so I want to remind you and myself that if there is something you are creating and feel the struggle, keep going.
You are not burning bridges. You are building them.
I love the quotes you included here. I find that the ancient philosophies have so much to teach us. Contemporary ideals are often led by consumerism and I can see how we are fed ideas to keep us buying, wanting and longing instead of moving forward and striving in our...