People love saying that “everything happens for a reason.”
I disagree with that. But I do think that humans are very good at assigning reason to things after they happen. We’re very good at re-framing the series of random events that make up life in a way that makes sense, and we’re good at it because we’re good storytellers.
We tell stories all the time, and there’s no story we tell more often than our own life story. It’s usually told to an audience of one, and we’re constantly editing it so that it’s a better story. We insert chapters, we add footnotes, we recognize clever foreshadowing long after the fact.
I hope the 2015 chapter of your story was a good one. Or, if it wasn’t, I hope you’re able to ascribe whatever meaning to it that is necessary for it to make sense. Even if you have to think of it as a prelude to a brighter and better 2016.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. It sways between its only two chords like a slow-motion hammock.
2. The drums in the middle are muted and distant, like they’re coming from the apartment down the hall.
3. The abrupt ending is because it’s the first track on a short but fascinating EP called Unfinished Business. The EP is a quick listen, and a great way to re-energize before tackling any unfinished business of your own in the new year.
Recommended listening activity:
Making a stick-figure drawing of what your life will be like one year from now.