Most years begin in quiet and somber fashion.
A still pause before the intake of the beginning of a New Year.
A moment of silent contemplation while the world collects itself to start again.
I’ve always done that on this blog too, opening with a reverence of subdued grace, a whispered prayer and offering that nothing gets too horrid in the year ahead. I try to ease into a new chapter, to set a calm scene. Soon enough the year will grow hectic and restless, and we shall return to the tumultuous churn of time, but for now I’d like to indulge in being on the verge…
LADIES AND GENTS, THIS IS THE MOMENT YOU’VE WAITED FOR
BEEN SEARCHING IN THE DARK, YOUR SWEAT SOAKING THROUGH THE FLOOR
AND BURIED IN YOUR BONES THERE’S AN ACHE THAT YOU CAN’T IGNORE
TAKING YOUR BREATH, STEALING YOUR MIND AND ALL THAT WAS REAL IS LEFT BEHIND
DON’T FIGHT IT, IT’S COMING FOR YOU, RUNNING AT YA
IT’S ONLY THIS MOMENT, DON’T CARE WHAT COMES AFTER
YOUR FEVER DREAM, CAN’T YOU SEE IT GETTING CLOSER
JUST SURRENDER ‘CAUSE YOU FEEL THE FEELING TAKING OVER
IT’S FIRE, IT’S FREEDOM, IT’S FLOODING OPEN
IT’S A PREACHER IN THE PULPIT AND YOU’LL FIND DEVOTION
THERE’S SOMETHING BREAKING AT THE BRICK OF EVERY WALL IT’S HOLDING I’LL LET YOU NOW, SO TELL ME DO YOU WANNA GO?
This year, I’m starting with a bang.
The quiet bit is done.
The silence is at an end.
The anticipation grows.
This year is not starting with silent honor.
We begin anew with a shout and a scream and a shuddering jolt of jagged inspiration.
WHERE IT’S COVERED IN ALL THE COLORED LIGHTS
WHERE THE RUNAWAYS ARE RUNNING THE NIGHT
IMPOSSIBLE COMES TRUE, IT’S TAKING OVER YOU
OH, THIS IS THE GREATEST SHOW
WE LIGHT IT UP, WE WON’T COME DOWN
AND THE SUN CAN’T STOP US NOW
WATCHING IT COME TRUE, IT’S TAKING OVER YOU
OH, THIS IS THE GREATEST SHOW!
Certain people are a circus party unto themselves. They know how to put on a show without making the slightest bit of effort. It’s who they are. They know how to command attention. They are precise in being admired. Deliberate in gaining adoration. They are killers when it comes to slaying on the stage of life.
They can enter a room like a stroke of lightning, and the atmosphere suddenly sparkles a bit more. Conversely, and much more tellingly, their absence is felt as a somber shift in spirit; on the days they are not present there is a marked and dreary difference. They have a knack of turning the mundane into something magnificent. They make the simple into something sublime. They are the show people who take center stage in whatever form they may manifest themselves.
Call it personality.
Call it charisma.
Call it star quality.
But the truth is you can’t really put it into words.
You just know it when you see it.
COLOSSAL WE COME THESE RENEGADES IN THE RING
WHERE THE LOST GET FOUND IN THE CROWN OF THE CIRCUS KING
DON’T FIGHT IT, IT’S COMING FOR YOU, RUNNING AT YA
IT’S ONLY THIS MOMENT, DON’T CARE WHAT COMES AFTER
IT’S BLINDING OUTSIDE AND I THINK THAT YOU KNOW
JUST SURRENDER ‘CAUSE YOU’RE CALLING AND YOU WANNA GO
WHERE IT’S COVERED IN ALL THE COLORED LIGHTS
WHERE THE RUNAWAYS ARE RUNNING THE NIGHT
IMPOSSIBLE COMES TRUE, INTOXICATING YOU
OH, THIS IS THE GREATEST SHOW
WE LIGHT IT UP, WE WON’T COME DOWN
AND THE SUN CAN’T STOP US NOW
WATCHING IT COME TRUE, IT’S TAKING OVER YOU
OH, THIS IS THE GREATEST SHOW!
“If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity of the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of ‘creative temperament’ – it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
When one is unsure of which way the world is taking, and what path our brethren might go, I find it best to be more of yourself than ever. Some scoff and say we should meet those who are different from us halfway, bending and shape-shifting to fit someone else’s idea of comfort and safety. I’ve always given a grand fuck-off to that kind of sentiment. No apologies. No regrets. This is me. It always will be. There’s nothing else.
As we begin this new year, with a chance for a new beginning, a chance to do it all over again, I rise to meet it – not with a wimper or wail, but a resounding clarion of hope, a beacon of defiance, and an invitation to join in this mad existence.
IT’S EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANT, IT’S EVERYTHING YOU EVER NEED
AND IT’S HERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, THIS IS WHERE YOU WANNA BE
IT’S EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANT, IT’S EVERYTHING YOU EVER NEED
AND IT’S HERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, THIS IS WHERE YOU WANNA BE
THIS IS WHERE YOU WANNA BE!
Truth be told, human beings scare the fuck out of me. Look at what we’re doing to each other in this country. Look at what we’re doing to each other in this world. And look at what we’ve always done. Anyone with half a brain should shun all of us and go far, far away where no one else is. I feel that all the time. Every single day. Whether it’s social anxiety or simple jaded derision, I feel the distance between us, and most of me only wants to make it greater, to pull away, to hide and seclude. But a small voice inside tells me to keep going. To take a chance. To believe. To hope. That’s the voice I honor here. That’s why I do all the crazy shit I do. I push and defy and force myself into the world. I put on something pretty for the parade of life and I do my best to play a part in it. It’s a battle, and I can’t pretend it’s easy or comfortable or fun, but it’s a battle worth the effort.
We must become better.
WHEN IT’S COVERED IN ALL THE COLORED LIGHTS
WHERE THE RUNAWAYS ARE RUNNING THE NIGHT
IMPOSSIBLE COMES TRUE, IT’S TAKING OVER YOU
OH, THIS IS THE GREATEST SHOW
WE LIGHT IT UP, WE WON’T COME DOWN
AND THE SUN CAN’T STOP US NOW
WATCHING IT COME TRUE, IT’S TAKING OVER YOU
THIS IS THE GREATEST SHOW!
The walls can’t stop us now…
Welcome to the New Year. I tip my hat to all of you.
Back to Blog
