Reflection Pond #25

Passion Pit - Manners (2009)

Euphoric, that's what I feel when I listen to Passion Pit. They have an energy that is infectious, bursting out of the seams with poppin beats and ascending toward the clouds with an airy note of bliss. The music surrounds me with sweetness that I can groove to and a blessing, like an ovation to the stars, thankful to be alive. Stumbling out of the desire to love, Michael Angelakos gave to the world a collection of beautiful and vibrant songs that don't hesitate to embrace with the warmth of a friendly hug. Emerging from the college scene and traveling across the planet, Passion Pit is now a strong voice in the evolution of music. If they can somehow find a way to channel their abundant energy into increasingly effective ways, there is no reason that we won't be dancing to their lovely sound for decades to come.


No Impact Man - Laura Gabbert & Justin Schein (2009)

Here's what is so great about No Impact Man...no, wait...here's two great things about this movie. It's a movie that shows us what it means to effectively live our lives without leaving a footprint. Fabulous right? In this day and age, our new green frontier, what a wonderful gift to give to the world. Yeah, I agree with all of that but there's something more valuable that we can gain from this film. I mean, are we really going to change the planet by changing our lifestyles? When we look at the grand picture it doesn't seem like things are really changing that much around us even though we've all gone green. Even the small steps Xtimu and I have taken over the past few years have taken, well, a few years. And how many people are going to watch this film anyway? And how many of those people are going to take the important message of sustainability away and start to make changes in their lives that are going to have an effective impact? Sheesh, I'm over-analyzing again, aren't I? But here's the good thing about this film that might turn it into a cult hit some day. The world of tomorrow is going to be a lot more like this than we think. Human beings, and especially those in the the more developed countries (like Amerika) are going to have to learn how to live with less. So much of the past few years, that was quickly brought into focus by the Bush Administration, has revealed to us that we have reached a saturation point with regards to consumption. We cannot continue to buy and splurge and expand and devour and dump all of that waste back on the planet. There's no more room for it. The environment is reeling, the financial markets are reeling, our communities are reeling, our psyches are reeling. It's important for us to recognize that we will have to live with less in the future and that future isn't as far away as we think. The vital message that has been regurgitated by this mass consumptive globalized brand of life is that even though the world may be a lot smaller than ever, the most rewarding experiences in life don't come from something superficially ensconced in plastic. They happen right where we are, with the intimate people in our lives, our families and friends and neighbors. So here's the other wonderful message that we get out of this film. When Colin Beavan is asked about what he most gained from his project, the thing he loved the most was the sense of community. The people he met that were trying to live their lives in really positive and effective ways that didn't hurt the planet. There was a beautiful community out there that surrounded him and embraced him. I believe that we all have a community out there that is ready and willing to embrace us as long as we are willing to give back to the community, to become a part of a collective growth of beings that love the very place where they live. The more that we embrace our community and contribute to it, the more that community grows into a beauty that has the ability to spread around the globe.