Home
| Underground Gallery - Broken Research |
|
|
Gone are the glory days. The days of Ginsburg and Kerouac, where you could hop on a box car or a freighter and see where life took you. Where you could go anywhere in the world, a dark corner of Africa , the deep jungle of South America, the classic cities of Europe, just to see how they lived. Where you could go to a club in New York, Los Angeles or Paris and hear Miles Davis or John Coltrane or Charlie Parker and witness innovation and history being made right before your eyes. I speak of days our generation will never know, feel or experience. All over the world lives are being exchanged for the idea of freedom. But our generation will never know the true freedom of life. The freedom of saying what we feel when we feel it, or having a different view from those around us. We are informed of our opinions via the Internet, the television and even our Ipods. We are shown what we think in crystal clear, picture perfect high definition images. We are servants to our credit cards and our debt. Restricted by our means of "freedom." With freedom comes time. Time to contemplate what is going on around you. Time to sit and think about your influences and your past. Time to appreciate what you have been given and what you have access to. Time to produce, create and form the next series of images, sounds and words that will be looked upon by future generations. Yet, everything in life today is about streamlining, consolidating and becoming more efficient. Basically, the elimination of time. And when time is eliminated, we become numb to our past, present and future. Our ancestors, regardless of our heritage, had within them an undying flame that was given to them by their ancestors. In the glow of this flame was the promise that their current actions would benefit their grandchildren and great grandchildren. They fought in wars, endured cold nights and hot days aboard ships, walked mile after mile in search of a better life. A better life not only for themselves, but for generations to come. This flame was fed by the ability to voyage. The ability to shed logic, defy convention and go. It was also fed by courage. The courage necessary to take a step forward into the darkness and know that what lie ahead was better than that which was behind them. Do we have that courage today? I ask you. Could you leave your job and your salary and make a decision that could positively impact your grandchildren? Could you board a plane tomorrow for an unknown land with the hope and promise that you will make it? Can we step into that darkness? Before you even answer, ask yourself this: Are we even allowed to make that sort of decision? Our compartmentalized lives don't allow for quick and drastic change. All change must be planned for, applied for and approved by those beyond our control. We must ask permission to make decisions for ourselves. It is our job to start the revolution of our generation. To rediscover that flame that once burned inside of our ancestors. It has been replaced inside of us with a fluorescent light bulb. We must shatter that bulb and restart that primal fire that was given to us and extinguished at birth. We must relight that fire out of respect for our ancestors. Those that came to America from Scotland, Albania, India, Japan, and Poland and stepped into the darkness to gave us a better life. We must also consider the ancestors that were here originally. Those whose lands were taken and culture squandered. We must honor and respect those who fought to preserve their way of life and what was rightfully theirs, yesterday and today. We must also relight that fire in honor of all of the artists, poets, musicians, actors and any person of creation who dared to dream and create in the way that spoke to them. We must create for those who stepped out of bounds, who pushed convention to the side and created something in the image of their feelings. Those who looked back and drew upon what was given to them in order to move forward. By doing this, my friends, we will have access to that aforementioned freedom that we cannot attain in its original form. We must not follow the path that is laid before us, but instead follow the path that is illuminated by our inner flame. It may not feel comfortable, and the ride may not be easy. You may discover emotions lurking inside that you were unaware of. These are the emotions of your ancestors. It is left over passion, drive and survival instinct that was passed on to us. A gift from generations past. Are you willing to open this gift? -- __ID___ |
|||
