Addressing your last paragraph, Amaya. Aren't we all flawed in some way. I feel like many of the most talented people are possessed by demons, real or imagined. Music and art are cathartic ways of dealing with our challenges and obstacles. At the very least, most of us carry issues that we haven't been able to or can't resolve. Combine that with a bit of fame and opportunity, some people will take advantage of situations they are not equipped to deal with, and go off the rails.
What is a flaw? Look at the invasion of Ukraine, look at man made climate change, look at prejudice, look at crime. I think humans are the most flawed of any living species. There have always been predators, people who behave terribly, but hide beneath a veneer. If we were all born perfect, then why is there so much suffering in the world. Is that why most need to believe in a higher spirit?
This was a great post, Amaya. It is worthy of many discussions.
I carry demons, I channel them through my music. I also carry joy and channel that through my music. I do my best to be a good human, but I am also selfish in some ways. I am fascinated by religious philosophies, particularly Buddhism, but I get bored easily, and being perfect sounds very boring to me. I do love getting lost in a jam, in my music. I can play and look up at the clock and see hours have passed. That's my meditation.
I think about the intersection of music and faith a lot. I am a Christian, and I find the mediocrity of most Christian music to be intensely disappointing. We’re supposed to be singing for GOD. Shouldn’t he get our best? So for the past two years or so I’ve been on a mission to find good, compelling, honest music about faith. I’ve found some surprising stuff. Songs like Twenty One Pilots’ Heavydirtysoul, Doubt, and Goner portray an earnest search for light and help as you grope in darkness. A constant theme in all of Matt Maeson’s music is running from God yet finding him to be inescapable as you realize your own depravity. His song The Hearse makes me cry because of how perfectly it captures the helpless feeling of fighting your own darkness. I’m just dipping my toe into Manchester Orchestra’s music but their album The Million Masks of God is quickly becoming a favorite. The album sings of renewal of faith, of the joy of finding something you feared you’d lost. But so far the most earnest declaration of faith I have found is Julien Baker’s Rejoice. “But I think there’s a God and he hears either way/ I rejoice and complain/ I never know what to say”. In the end, that’s what faith is. Believing there’s a God who hears and cares, despite our mistakes, that we can turn to in times of joy and trouble, who helps us to live rightly. In a way, my faith helps me when I hear awful things about people I respect. No one is good. But everyone can be.
Addressing your last paragraph, Amaya. Aren't we all flawed in some way. I feel like many of the most talented people are possessed by demons, real or imagined. Music and art are cathartic ways of dealing with our challenges and obstacles. At the very least, most of us carry issues that we haven't been able to or can't resolve. Combine that with a bit of fame and opportunity, some people will take advantage of situations they are not equipped to deal with, and go off the rails.
What is a flaw? Look at the invasion of Ukraine, look at man made climate change, look at prejudice, look at crime. I think humans are the most flawed of any living species. There have always been predators, people who behave terribly, but hide beneath a veneer. If we were all born perfect, then why is there so much suffering in the world. Is that why most need to believe in a higher spirit?
This was a great post, Amaya. It is worthy of many discussions.
I carry demons, I channel them through my music. I also carry joy and channel that through my music. I do my best to be a good human, but I am also selfish in some ways. I am fascinated by religious philosophies, particularly Buddhism, but I get bored easily, and being perfect sounds very boring to me. I do love getting lost in a jam, in my music. I can play and look up at the clock and see hours have passed. That's my meditation.
I think about the intersection of music and faith a lot. I am a Christian, and I find the mediocrity of most Christian music to be intensely disappointing. We’re supposed to be singing for GOD. Shouldn’t he get our best? So for the past two years or so I’ve been on a mission to find good, compelling, honest music about faith. I’ve found some surprising stuff. Songs like Twenty One Pilots’ Heavydirtysoul, Doubt, and Goner portray an earnest search for light and help as you grope in darkness. A constant theme in all of Matt Maeson’s music is running from God yet finding him to be inescapable as you realize your own depravity. His song The Hearse makes me cry because of how perfectly it captures the helpless feeling of fighting your own darkness. I’m just dipping my toe into Manchester Orchestra’s music but their album The Million Masks of God is quickly becoming a favorite. The album sings of renewal of faith, of the joy of finding something you feared you’d lost. But so far the most earnest declaration of faith I have found is Julien Baker’s Rejoice. “But I think there’s a God and he hears either way/ I rejoice and complain/ I never know what to say”. In the end, that’s what faith is. Believing there’s a God who hears and cares, despite our mistakes, that we can turn to in times of joy and trouble, who helps us to live rightly. In a way, my faith helps me when I hear awful things about people I respect. No one is good. But everyone can be.