Personal notes vol. 2

I decided to create a new series of posts on shorter personal notes. These will overlap some in topic with my ongoing journals.

Going through old music favorites

I created two articles with some of my current and older music favorites. I have listened to a lot over the years and have forgotten about many, which is one reason why I am doing it. I want to bring some of them back in my listening.

Here are some of these. Some of them are also surprisingly moving for me.

The perfection of imperfect song

Some of what I am listening to reminds me of how much I sometimes love imperfect song. Singing that’s a little off tune, off beat, or rough around the edges and through that convey emotions or a mood. These three are examples of that each in their own way.

This singing is conventionally perfect, but even here it has little phrasings that don’t quite follow the beat and convey emotions.

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Personal notes vol. 1

I decided to create a new series of posts on shorter personal notes. These will overlap some in topic with my ongoing journals.

Baffled by others when I don’t need to be

I sometimes lean into feeling baffled by others and the world. And behind that is a sense of superiority and arrogance.

I tell myself I am baffled, and part of me feels baffled. At the same time, I know very well some reasons why they behave as they do. So why do I sometimes lean into the bafflement? Very likely so I can feel superior and better about myself. I create a sense of distance to feel better about myself.

Of course, it doesn’t really work.

When I notice bafflement and a tendency to lean into it, I can remind myself that it comes from a wish to feel better about myself. It’s not a good look. It’s not necessary.

I can instead lean into a more mature side of me that does understand some of the reasons why people behave the way they do. (At least, some likely reasons. I cannot know for certain, of course.)

This more mature side of me also knows that the world is my mirror. I can take any story I have about them, change it to be about myself, and find genuine and specific examples of how it’s true.

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