Welcome to the second edition of the WWWW digest.
These are some of the things I’ve been enjoying lately.
I hope you find joy in this stuff too.
For Listening - Glimpse of Us by Joji
There’s something special about this song accompanied by the video. The song is gentle and sad while the video is violent and sad. These opposites come together in a beautiful juxtaposition that works because of the sadness felt in the music and video. Part of me feels the gentleness of the music, another part of me feels the violence of the video. Together, I feel a whole lot.
If you don’t know Joji, you might know his earlier Youtube persona, Pink Guy. George Miller found fame on Youtube through TVFilthyFrank. Responsible for popularizing the Harlem Shake in 2012, George eventually became a prisoner of the fictional characters that made him famous on his Youtube channel. Learn more.
There’s a duality in George’s self-expression. Chaos and order. Beauty and ugliness.
George reminds me that there are many sides to a person, and these sides don’t always seem congruent until closer inspection. And upon clearer understanding, these various seemingly incompatible aspects of a self create a whole and genuine self. We can all honour who we are by expressing ourselves authentically in our art. Although the various aspects of ourselves that we express might make us seem inconsistent, contradictory and even paradoxical, there’s beauty in witnessing the authenticity of the conflict which is present in all of us, and makes us who we are.
For Watching - Dr. Timothy Leary Interview
Timothy Leary was a Harvard professor, and later a popular spokesperson for the psychedelic revolution and counterculture in the United States. In this video, Leary gives a shout out to whatswhatwhoswho by asking some fundamental questions.
Blamed by many today for causing the government crackdown on psychedelics, in turn putting an end to scientific research on psychedelics, Timothy also gave the youth of his time an opportunity to break free from the chains of imposed intellectual and cultural tradition by popularizing the spiritual and ceremonial use of psychedelics in the West. Without Timothy Leary, contemporary culture would be different, for better or worst. Here’s another interesting interview with Dr. Leary showcasing his radical views on individual liberty and spiritual discovery, “turn on, tune in, drop out”.
Side note, the video above was sampled in the song Colours and Shapes by the one and only legendary Mac Miller. RIP young prodigy (if you haven’t listened to Faces…).
Leary eventually fell off the deep end as he sought to migrate to space while holding some injudicious views about human eugenics and evolution. Dive deeper.
Similar to Joji, Leary reminds me there are many faces to one being.
For Reading - The 10 Zen Bulls
An insightful metaphor for awakening. The “Ten Bulls of Zen” describes the various stages of awakening, or enlightenment according to Zen Buddhism. The bull-herder represents the seeker, or the ego, while the bull represents our true nature, our awakened nature, the Buddha nature which is inherent in all of us.
Thanks for reading. You’re welcome to comment or tap that heart button.
Love.