RECIPE :: here we all are

start with the song

press play to listen while you read

SONG :: i choose you

ARTIST :: willie hutch

MOOD :: i choo choo choose y'all

next, mix together weed and endorphins

Purple Kush

recreational effects

data complied by Leafly

let everything simmer until epiphanies develop

I was talking to a friend about a recent act of violence that went down here in nyc & she was saying how awful it was and how nyc "isn't like that." Are we not though? 

In the book Shantaram, the dude talks about how India is so densely packed with people on top of people; his descriptions range from watching an angry mob literally carry someone off in a rage when a social norm was violated, all the way to extreme acts of kindness - and how the entire range is not only accepted, but celebrated. How no other country could be that congested with other humans and survive. I wonder what it would look like if you took this same formula and made a bunch of your say, Americans or Frenchmen or whatever get all close and competitive for resources with each others' sweaty gross selves. 

So I'm wondering if this bit of violence in nyc ... and in Nevada ... and in Charlottesville .... and in London ... and in Spain ... that this might be due to us all getting a little closer in that we now have more direct access into each other's minds & psyches than during any other era, ever. Maybe it's too close, too soon and we're freaking out collectively in the face of what we’re seeing in each other.  

Maybe what India's got going on is like this Miyazaki quote: 

When I say "hero", do not picture someone with the strength to fight and conquer evil - because evil is not something that can be defeated. Evil is natural. It is innate in all humans. But while it can't be defeated ... it can be controlled. In order to control it, and live the life of a true hero, you must learn to see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good. Pledge yourself to neither side, but vow instead to preserve the balance that exists between the two.