sacred spaces
I went to the opera last week. The Met faintly smells of some churches – I think it’s the velvet of the seats and the heavy wood. Levine came out to thunderous applause, the lights dimmed, the chandeliers elegantly rose and we were off, soon deep in a world of beauty, art, thought, music.
No tweet could do those hours justice. No video could make you feel how it felt to be there. And I wouldn’t even want to try because its sacred. It’s too beautiful, too personal to try to send over the airwaves. I have resolved to relish those sacred spaces, keep them safe. I have also resolved to not bastardize others sacred spaces. Some places and moments need to remain untouched.
plannerization specialization maximus
“What kind of planner are you?”
I’m just a planner. I don’t have a special theory set or a specific angle in – I like to think that I assess what’s needed and then pull on the theories that I need to accomplish that task at hand – digital or analogue, granular or macro. I morph. Some people I really respect have special titles and write special decks about their brand of planning. I wonder if I’m a dinosaur or perhaps they’re a fad or maybe a bit of both.
wolves
my great-grandfather and my grandfather lived in the Ukraine, at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains. Every spring they would go up into the hills and bring back a baby wolf or two. And every fall, after a summer of companionship, those wolf pups would disappear back into the mountains. A wolf appeared on my father’s property in Florida a few years back. It bred with his dog, had a litter and eventually, my father was able to tame her down enough to capture her to re-release her in the wild. We kept the litter. So I got a hybrid pup. His name was Otto.
Yesterday I was watching the wind whip through some trees in Tribeca and it made me think about their loyalty and their simultaneous aloofness. I don’t think they’re really built for Facebook, are they?
rumor-mongering and how absolutely stupid our industry can be
kevin’s out, ben’s gone, seth announced his resignation yesterday and the chatter is alive that BBH New York is going to shit. funny, it sure doesn’t feel that way.
how absolutely fucking awesome pee-wee herman is
i don’t if the dude masturbated in a theater, he’s one of my childhood idols and his NYC tour this week was awesome.
edward boches
1 year ago
Been many years since I’ve been to the Met. (Well before Twitter and checking in.) My wife and I used to come to the city for weekends, do all the museums, the opera, Petrossians afterwards. Miss those days. Was easier to give yourself entirely to an experience without in iPhone in one hand and wondering whether or not anyone wanted to know what you were up to, or if someone you knew was there but you didn’t know they were there. Of course I have also heard of operas that these days tweet the translations in real time via a hashtag. And other performances where the conductor shares his thoughts and interpretations via some social media platform. So that is sort of the antithesis of what we’re talking about. I’m with you, however. Take it in fully in a personal way.
EF
1 year ago
Some thoughts on the sacred.
I agree that original experience has no substitute. When we try to share a sacred experience all we can do is show people abstractions. But, while our words and recordings may bastardize the original, they also might inspire someone to seek that experience out for themselves. If the sacred is shared in a respectful way, with the right people, some good may come out of it. For example, I’m now inspired to take a trip back to the opera.
Yet, I agree there are dangers in sharing the sacred. The people who don’t directly experience that moment themselves, often make hasty and unfounded judgements about it. Their generalizations strip the sacred of meaning. And, if that experience becomes too common they may begin calling it trivial, wave it off as another cliche, or turn it into some joke. It can all be very frustrating when my sacred moment is simply dismissed with a crude label.
But, all of this does not really have to affect how sacred that experience remains to us personally. We know the true meaning of the moment. But, it’s true that our psychology betrays us. We become bored with things that seem too common. This seems to happen to great landmarks that become tourist attractions. Keeping something esoteric preserves its specialness and assures it won’t be misunderstood. And for that reason, perhaps some places and moments should remain untouched. If people are exposed to them incorrectly their stereotypes can become a barrier later on – and they might actually refuse the chance to experience the sacred event for themselves.
One final thought. I wonder if some things become more sacred when shared correctly. Historic acts of kindness and bravery for example. Moments are ephemeral in time, but if they are documented beautifully in a work of art, their sacred meaning can at least be partially captured and immortalized. And, they may inspire humankind for many generations to come.