Love Letter to a Star

You step into the box
the doctor closes the door
behind you
I stand watching
for ten songs' time
following each recycled breath
with my own two lungs.

You bravely look forward
as tubes and technology
calculate your fate
but all I can do is stare
at my favorite flower
in a glass case
like a fairytale.

If only this were make-believe.

Truth is-
the moment that door closed
I learned what love is.

I knew I would Walk Through Hell
and fight Intergalactic wars
just to be Stuck in the Middle With You
where we could Build A Home
and sail Into the Mystic
under the Amber sun
gazing at a sky with No Rain
and always reminding me "Don't Panic"
like you knew it's Just What I Needed
because even when life is a Bittersweet Symphony
it's still the most incredible playlist I know
when we are together.

The doctor opens the door
smiling with a mouthful of good news
as we exhale days of fear
and inhale a lifetime of love
I realize-

the happiest I've ever been
is when I'm breathing with you. 

Happy New Year!

September is a month of metamorphosis. From fresh starts at school to new apartments to autumn leaves, change is self-evident. It’s presence can be felt through all five senses and transform life as we previously understood it to be.

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So I propose a movement. A calendar shift of New Year’s Day from January 1^st to September 1^st, effective on this day in 2012. The traditions are similar, except New Year’s Eve is spent at a bonfire with the people that matter most to you, sharing memories and celebrating the past, future, and most importantly- the present. As the first to observe this revised holiday, I’ve created a list of resolutions. These are not your typical New Year’s resolutions, but rather a new guideline on how I plan to live. Cheers to transformation!

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• Be real. Zero caddy, petty, or dramatic behavior (no exceptions).
• Be honest. No lies, exaggerations, or BS (for any reason).
• Love without conditions or expectations.
• No talking about the lives of celebrities (unless the conversation relates to a pep talk or constructive lesson about life).
• Less profanity.
• Make more eye contact and smile.
• Give at least one stranger a compliment every day.
• Be safe, but not scared. There is no room in my body for fear.
• Spend more time with children and animals.
• Be conscious, be present.
• Stay curious. Try something new every week (activity, food, location, music, etc).
• Let go. The only things I have the ability to control are my own thoughts, intentions, and actions.
• Don’t be negatively critical whatsoever. Instead be positive and encouraging in my words and actions (to others and to myself).
• Be patient and kind. The most wonderful things take time.
• Read 1-2 educational books a month.
• Interview motivated people and collect advice from different perspectives.
• Ask 10 people a week about songs and create 1 mixtape each week.
• Create 1 drawing, painting, or invention each week.
• Be active at least 30 minutes a day and exercise 1 hour 3 times a week.
• Rearrange my taste buds by reducing sugar and salt intake.
• Limit social media usage to 30 minutes daily.
• Make a budget plan and be precise with my finances.
• Floss everyday.
• Meditate at least 15 minutes every night.
• Be the change. Volunteer one weekend a month.
• Be with family. Visit home one weekend a month.
• Send love. Write and mail 1 letter to a friend each week.
• Speak less, listen more.
• Complete at least one thing on my bucket list by next September. 
• Dedicate good vibes to one person in the world each day.

Happy New Year everyone!

Perception Inception

I've been off for the past few weeks exploring new passions, meeting new people, and learning more than I ever thought possible. It has been a profound time in the history of my life. I wanted to find a way to illustrate it all outloud, but all I have right now are moleskin pages, random mail & messages, and other shorthanded thoughts scattered across technology & post-it notes. I’m tempted to call it a puzzle, but it’s more like a collage with no glue right now. What I’m going to do is try and elaborate on some of these ideas & theories in a stream of consciousness way, also known as the 'fuck the rules, go with the flow, see where you end up' method. Ready?
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Print by Lee Anne Steers 

If you want to find someone that will love you for you, wouldn’t it make sense to be yourself? Everyday I observe people that act like other people. At work, at school, at the bar, at the store, on the phone, and even in the mirror. That’s right, we’ve all done it at some point in our lives. It's what happens when you spend time reading magazines, watching movies, tv shows, music videos, and scrolling through tumblr or twitter. We live in society that idolizes celebrities, entertained by them like the Truman Show. We adore who they are on a screen or 2d on glossy pages, and would like to also have their beauty/talent/wit/personality/style/etc. Problem is we’re so busy trying to embody somebody else, that we forget to appreciate our own beauty/talent/charm/wit/personality/style. “But I’m not like that.” Okay, say your wannabe days are over, they ended after the Lauryn Hill phase in high school. Awesome, congrats! Now when’s the last time you acted differently to try to impress someone? I see this specifically with relationships. People say things that they wouldn’t usually say (or vice versa), pretend to like things they don’t (or vice versa), exaggerate stories, dress differently, and overall don’t act like themselves. If any or all of those ever applied to a first date (or second or third or a whole relationship) of yours, then all I have to ask is- why? That’s like trying to find the love of your life at a Halloween Party. Then people complain they can’t trust anyone anymore! If a relationship is already rooted with misconceptions then chances are it won’t end up well.  If you want to be loved for who you are, then you need to be yourself. Sounds scary but it’s that simple.
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I recently had a discussion with a group of people talking about the first year of the internet. It boggled my mind to hear them talk about how things were different in terms of business, travel, relationships, education, and everyday living. Then how shockingly fast it evolved and shifted society. Cool infographic about it (here). In future history books, I imagine them comparing this era to the industrial revolution. There’s been a stunning velocity of culture change. There have been countless breakthroughs and advances, but they don’t come without setbacks and byproducts. The balance of life makes it so. Yes we can talk to anyone we want from all over the world at any time (pending sleep status), but that kind of freedom also makes us more anxious and impatient.  If you text someone a question or email a job application or post something important to you online- most likely you’re going to want an answer or a response or affirmation as soon as possible (and technology makes “asap” pretty damn fast). We have digital cameras instead of film. We have messages instead of letters. We have @ tweets and facebook posts instead of phone calls. We have a world of information at our fingertips, but what we do with it says a lot. I watched this stand up comedian talking about the effects of google on our collective community and there’s a lot of truth to it.
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Brings me to my 80’s film sequel idea… Breakfast Club 2012- (plot summary) six teenagers on their phones and barely saying a word to each other for an entire Saturday.  Spoiler alert- they’re not actually in detention, they are friends at a sleepover.

I know a lot of people that wish their feelings would disappear. Really? Wouldn't you rather wake up with a content mind & heart full of love? It all reminds me of this Cherokee legend I heard in middle school (right). You just have to nourish your good side and your soul will become intrinsically & outwardly radiant. I promise you this feeling is infinitely more fulfilling than feeling depressed, angry, or nothing at all. It takes practice, but you are fully capable and it’s totally worth the effort. Stop numbing yourself down and start your quest to happiness. 

I started reading a book on musical engineering and they have chapters about the anatomical process and psychological effects of listening to music. Do you know how a soundwave gets to your brain? There's a couple diagrams below, and the information is unreal. This book is completely changing the way I understand sound and how our musical tastebuds work.
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I’ll be using whatever knowledge I soak up from this on my mixtape project this fall.
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Music, Physics and Engineering - Harry F. Olson.
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Final Thoughts

To get respect you need to give respect. To receive love, you need to give love. To meet people, you need to get out of bed. In order to be happy, you need to let go. Problem -> solution -> action.  Works for pretty much everything.

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Sometimes being late and getting lost are blessings in plain sight.

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Everyone makes mistakes. You & I included. So have patience with yourself and with others, we’re all trying to figure out this journey.

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Niente accade per caso. Always. 
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-KSB