clarity.

What a whirlwind lately. The claims on my daily allotment of hours are swimming in my head. It’s good (it’s good!) but also leaves me feeling like I can barely scrape out 30 minutes to sit down and write here.

Since last weekend, I’ve been thinking about this interview with Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn for On Being. I’ve listened to it a handful of times. I tried to explain it to J last night: it’s so heartening to hear from people who have made lives out of art for the purpose of being better people in the world.

Towards the end of the interview, Abigail talks about her experiences as a sensitive, empathetic child - how she often felt darkness because she was so attuned to the feelings of other people who were feeling darkness. And now, she's realized that her music can be a container for those feelings, that she can feel them deeply but also let them go.

Right now, my writing isn’t so much a container for feelings as a place where I’m forced to confront them. But I think that’s the first step in the right direction.

At any rate, it’s a kickass interview and worth a listen. It's a bit of clarity in the madness.