Here is something I recommend doing: Go to Times Square. Insert yourself into a crowd of people. Put your earbuds in. Or headphones. Whatever you use. Play “The Ascension” by Sufjan Stevens. I think what’s good about Sufjan Stevens is that his music sounds like he’s always having epiphanies. And when you’re walking in a crowd of people that’s so tight, and you can’t move the way you want to, and every move you make is blocked by another person or a trash can or a bollard or a child with a scooter it’s good to drown it all out with a song that sounds like someone finding God for the thousandth time. The music might become a heavy blanket. You might not worry about moving at the speed that you want to move. You might let the crowd carry you as though you were floating just a couple of millimeters above the ground. You might not smell the hot dogs and roasted nuts. You might not think for a few minutes. You might not take note of what’s on the screens and instead appreciate their colors, the way a yellow form moves over a field of blue, the way each one lights up brighter than the one next to it, somehow, the way that person smiled so someone could take a photo of them so they could sell you a cheeseburger. You might notice that most people have the same bewildered look on their face.
the ascension
the ascension
the ascension
Here is something I recommend doing: Go to Times Square. Insert yourself into a crowd of people. Put your earbuds in. Or headphones. Whatever you use. Play “The Ascension” by Sufjan Stevens. I think what’s good about Sufjan Stevens is that his music sounds like he’s always having epiphanies. And when you’re walking in a crowd of people that’s so tight, and you can’t move the way you want to, and every move you make is blocked by another person or a trash can or a bollard or a child with a scooter it’s good to drown it all out with a song that sounds like someone finding God for the thousandth time. The music might become a heavy blanket. You might not worry about moving at the speed that you want to move. You might let the crowd carry you as though you were floating just a couple of millimeters above the ground. You might not smell the hot dogs and roasted nuts. You might not think for a few minutes. You might not take note of what’s on the screens and instead appreciate their colors, the way a yellow form moves over a field of blue, the way each one lights up brighter than the one next to it, somehow, the way that person smiled so someone could take a photo of them so they could sell you a cheeseburger. You might notice that most people have the same bewildered look on their face.