People walk slower when it’s Spring. They’ll risk being late for the scenic tour. They’ll forgo a nice meal to eat an ice cream cone in the park (post-Instagram). The wind, though dreadful to bare skin, is a small part of the magic.
When it’s Spring, we value our time differently than the colder seasons prior.
Dear readers, watchers, listeners -
It may be getting warmer outside, but that doesn’t mean our burdens melted away with the snow. There is a lot going on in the world. Sometimes, we focus on the grander aspects of humanity that touch more lives than just our own1, but more often we concentrate on a tiny portion of the Earth’s mass: ourselves. We put all of our energy towards our own stirring yet static lives.
I have a belief that people intuitively seek drama. They look for the problems. They see a cup half full and wonder, why not a plate of food, also?
We spend hours thinking about the people who don’t swipe right back. We wake up dreading a menial task that by no means defines our lives. We wonder why our messages go ignored. We find ourselves sitting with a frown on our faces and are unable to articulate why. We feel misunderstood.
It’s human nature to desire the things we don’t have, nor understand. It’s easy to look at celebrities2 on Periscope and wish we lived a comparable lifestyle.
We forget to acknowledge the stability in our lives: supportive families and friends, moving bodies, disposable income. It’s an ugly truth that cancer cautions us to value our health and deaths in the family help us recognize the blessings each person in our life represents.
Time pushes us forward and there’s never enough time to sit back and be satisfied with how and with whom we've spent our time.3 Life is hard and even so, the world doesn't owe us any favors. Every day we wake up, we surrender our control to the Universe and keep trekking on, hoping it will play nice.
The Sun on our skin feels nice though. And the springtime reminds us that taking a moment to experience this complimentary comfort from the star of our Solar System is never a waste of time.
Adam, Thomas, and I carefully selected pieces of art we felt would best enlighten and entertain our audience. We want to not only draw in more eyes and ears to the talent of our contributors, but we want our audience to ponder the different perspectives neatly compiled in this issue.
Yours,
Natalia
Editor
As Thomas evaluates in his essay, artists prove to be creative threats to social conventions. (Back)
Some celebrities deserve our attention, as Michael displays with his eloquent and comprehensive analysis of Dolly Parton's character, fame, and influence. (Back)
It seems there is always time for Netflix, a name that also pops up in Sara's essay. You will read about nostalgia surrounding lost time in Nick and Rachel's pieces. (Back)