So for the last hour or so I've been listening to a song I heard on the radio in the car. I was by myself and, as songs often well, this one really appealed to me. This shocked me a bit because it's not the usual kind of song that I like. In fact, it's almost the opposite of the kind of song I'd usually like, at least, at first glance.
The more I listened to it, the more I realized it wasn't that unusual for me. The song has a lot of the same Southern muddy gritty sexy bits that usually appeals to me. Is it in the genre I tend to like? Nope, but the foundation is there.
What bothers me is that I had one of those moments of feeling so tied to my 'musical identity' that I actually had to try and justify TO MYSELF why I liked something. Like, you know, something that you either do or don't do. It's not the kind of thing you can really control.
There are a lot of things we let limit us, but the biggest one, always, is the narrative we're spinning around ourselves. I can't eat that because I _____. I can't find that person attractive because attractive people look like ____ . I won't enjoy that book because the author is _____ and I don't like ____. And yet, when we stop limiting ourselves by the shit that isn't true, we find that we may like that food, that person, and that book.
What else could we have enriching our lives if we'd just let go of our self-imposed definitions? Sometimes we get so obsessed with playing our role that we ignore all the other things going on. Sure, we may still not like a lot of it, but some of it might really be great for us, even if it doesn't fit into the things we think we SHOULD like. What if the thing that is too stupid for your smart self or too racy for your modest self or too old-fashioned for your modern self is the one thing you've been longing to have?
We have enough people trying to put us in boxes. We shouldn't do it to ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment