Living without a trace?…

Food for thought

You and I, here we are in the world. Our flesh and blood, is proof enough of our existence — of living a life. Or is it?

All through the weekend, I have listened to what I describe as a deeply Soulful album by Solange called A Seat at the Table. The themes explored throughout the album include Blackness, racism, gentrification, depression and belonging. These themes have served to provoke my thoughts, giving me another reminder to take note to really pay attention — live on purpose and tell my stories before I die.

Have you noticed the current global climate, attempting to gaslight the masses — one alternative fact at a time? Isn’t it just so pitiful, the lengths some will go to in seeking to erase the truth? *shakes head*

Writer Zora Neale Hurston was a force that reckoned with truth, she implored us with this cautionary quote:

“If you are silent about your pain, they will kill you and say you enjoyed it.” — Zora Neale Hurston

Everybody’s famous

There is a cult being made of celebrity, an underlying narrative that fame is the harem to pursue and be part of.

In 1968 Andy Warhol said:

“In the future, everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.” — Andy Warhol

In the last few days, artist Kehinde Wiley unveiled his painted portrait of former (#44) President Barack Obama — and offered this expansion:

“Andy Warhol said we would all have our fifteen minutes. Fuck the fifteen minutes. I’m going to give you a painting, i’ll make you live forever.” — Kehinde Wiley

Hmm.

Now in 2018, this digital era gives the potential for everybody to go viral for something or other. But, aren’t we all famous all the time anyway within the context of our own lives? Ordinary people doing extraordinary things, ordinary people doing ordinary things, extraordinary people doing ordinary things. We can use the ‘fifteen minutes’ as just another analogy for a whole life, not just a highlight. My fifteen minutes — my life, your fifteen minutes — your life. We can reclaim the idea of ‘fame’, make it relative to us everyday where we are — can’t we?

To the moon and back

We leave our fingerprints on everything we touch, humankind have even been to the moon and left footprints. The desire to leave traces of ourselves behind living on long after our demise, seems encoded in our DNA.

I don’t think immortality is the motivation for me in telling my story, but perhaps it’s a rebellion against my mortality. Live it, document it, let it be told and retold. We are not cookie cutter humans, we’re all pieces of a puzzle — blueprints for those that come after us. Telling our stories is necessary. The good, the bad, the truth. On her album, on a track called Weary — Solange sings this verse:

“Be leary about your place in the world, you’re feeling like you’re chasing the world, you’re leaving not a trace in the world… but you’re facing the world.” — Solange (Weary)

Are you living without a trace?

Pull up a seat.