In 2012, I wrote an essay about the concept behind my Death Blues project. Initially, I planned on it being associated with a recording, or perhaps just existing on the website as a project statement. After talking more with Dylan Schleicher about his involvement in the project (Alverno Presents event), the idea that this could be published on ChangeThis.com was brought up, and seemed to be an ideal way to spread the idea to a larger, and different audience than might receive it via the usual methods.
Here’s a brief section from the text:
“How much time is left? Do we know? Does our plan know? What happens when we thoroughly hold and understand that our lives are finite? How does this understanding of our end shape our present? And how do we become more ‘present?’ Because each moment is an opportunity and a decision.
We all have dreams for the future: Making a million dollars, getting a new car, finishing school, getting a promotion, and achieving any number of goals, while potentially important, might not be possible in this instant. But considering an overdue apology, sending a positive email to someone, calling a family member, talking to a co-worker about a project idea, connecting in any way with someone in order to make something good happen can be done right now. And consider the affect those immediate actions might have on the longer-term goals listed previously. Many big events in our lives are the results of a series of immediate but important smaller events that take place before them. Immediate positive actions are the structural building blocks for what’s to come.”