my new band plays May 23rd @easy_life_studio debuting over an hour of live rock music which is intended to never exist online. marking the first time Steph and i have played a live show together since opening for Sophie at RBMA montreal 2018. i wanted to focus on exploring music with friends in public as far away from computers and the internet as we could get. inspired in part by jazz & tarot in montreal, the goal is to provide a backdrop to your night that enhances your life without feeding into nostalgia and covers. bridging the gap between modern electronic, dance and our rock sound is dj @shmalcolm whose bookclub and general vibe have inspired me since moving to toronto. tickets available now.
I’ve seen a few of my peers post about this recently, so here’s my contribution to the algorithm.
Lately I’ve been interested in the origin of words.
These photos are inspired by the word radical.
Radical is derived from the Latin word radix/radic, which means root. The word evolved to radicalis prior to becoming radical in late Middle English.
The word radical has a few modern day definitions. These definitions are context dependent and are open to interpretation.
At its core, radical means: forming the root.
Walking through Lynn Canyon with this definition in mind, I started to notice how erosion uncovers the roots of trees. Personally, these exposed roots represented beauty, tragedy and the passage of time in a poetic way. Sometimes I could see directly through the root system of established trees. I could see the other side. Naturally, these trees will die, making space for new trees to grow. Pretty rad.
These photos are meant to give you time and space to think about the word radical in a different context.
I think that like trees, it might be painful to expose our roots. That exposure and “getting to the root of things” might be what allows us to grow.
I’m the type of person who will actually take you up on your offer if you tell them to come visit, so please choose your words carefully.
Jokes aside, I spent my 30th birthday in London off the strength of friendship. @austy_smith was the first person I talked to at PDRR when I moved back to Toronto. Running brought us together, but we became close friends through our mutual interests and late twenties existentialism.
I’m super grateful for Austin and @celiabek letting me crash at their flat. Thank you for all of your generosity, sharing space and spending time with me. You two were the best hosts and I don’t take any of it for granted.
I did a lot of reflecting on my twenties during this trip and came to the obvious conclusion that I’ve been very fortunate to accomplish most, if not everything that I’ve put my mind to. This realization left me feeling a little conflicted about where I should go from here.
I’m happy, because who doesn’t love achieving their goals, but I’m also a little melancholy. It’s hard not to look back and think that having achieved these goals I probably should/could have dreamed a little bigger. It’s an odd, but probably relatable experience. Nostalgia foster’s regret in a sense.
I’ve found some comfort in recognizing that everything I regret brought me to where I am and made me who I am right now. Privileges don’t overrule feelings and I’m better off using my regret to inform how to move forward rather than engaging in a self-defeating spiral.
Looking back, my twenties were about gathering and planting all sorts of seeds (good and bad). Looking forward, my thirties will be about nurturing the good seeds, and seeing what they grow into.
