We are all like Chiyono to some degree or another. Carrying around a rickety bucket, anxious that it will break at any moment, and convinced that we hold the moon in our hands. But of course, this is a lie. The moon is not in the bucket at all.
Author: Q.
Mental Health
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Life is Good.
What I realized this year is that the purpose of life is simply to be alive. Fully. At all times, in all moments. To meet each living thing with respect and camaraderie, recognizing that we are all struggling in some way or another; offering relief without cost; receiving support without shame.
Fiction
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Mr. Trump Goes to Gaza
Seeing this absurd tweet prompted me to literally LOL the other day and then share it on Facebook with derisive glee. My friends found it equally hilarious which led me to muse about writing a shitty, satirical short story based on Gabriel’s ridiculous proposition. This idea was met with some…
Roost: Finding a Way Home at Midlife
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Roost | Part I | A Crisis at Midlife
I’d convinced myself I was “doing just fine” before my crisis really got its claws into me. I tried everything in my power to avoid admitting to myself that the life I’d been living was no longer serving me. That it was, in fact, causing me harm. I likely would have continued on that way forever if I hadn’t had a legitimate crisis that almost broke me and forced me to reckon with the conflict between who I am and how I was living.
Music
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Live Music Review: The Bright Light Social Hour Works Magic Onstage at The Mohawk, 9/30/23
Check out my review of The Bright Light Social Hour’s performance at The Mohawk in Austin, Texas on 9/30/23 on The Cosmic Clash.
Music
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Live Music Review: Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily Perform Love in Exile at Bass Concert Hall
Read my review of Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily’s performance of Love in Exile on 9/29/23.
Creativity
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Writing sucks… and I love it!
I’ve learned some pretty intense lessons about what it means to be a writer, the first (and possibly most important) of which is: writing sucks.
Music
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Album Review: The Bright Light Social Hour drops “Emergency Leisure” on 8/2/23
Read my review of The Bright Light Social Hour’s brand new LP, Emergency Leisure (Escondido Records) on The Cosmic Clash… [here]
Creativity
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Creative Process v. Creative Product
Those who have produced truly great things almost always find enclaves of like-souls with whom they can express themselves freely, and without judgement — engaging throughout their imperfect processes and without the burden of having to perform for the fickle, intolerant or unfulfilled masses who are simply looking for, at best a diversion; at worst, things to criticize in order to relive their own existential discomfort.
Religion
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Heaven is a Place on Earth
My budding Zen practice has helped me recenter and reorient my whole self – physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual – around the idea that we are not some separate, special creation made in the image of some male-centric, authority figure modeled on patriarchal, tribal cultures.