We see what we let ourselves see.

It's been a strangely cultural summer. I'm not trying to sound pretentious when I say that. It's not like I'm sitting in the Getty sipping pellegrino and listening to Chopin or anything. I just mean I've been able to invest in the side projects that I enjoy so much more than other summers. I've listened to a lot of music, wrote some, read some Eggers and some Eliot and some Akhmatova. It's good stuff. But I'm realizing how much I have really started to hone in my influences. I really want to get away from that. It's not like I'm trying to do that persay, but I'm realizing how myopic what I let influence me is. I listen to a lot of hip-hop but all from a fairly specific vein. I read a lot of stuff but it's all this sort of rambling all over the place prose. It's the kind of stuff that I like to write. Now don't get me wrong I don't have any intention of cutting out any of those things. I love me some Frank Ocean and reading Eggers really fries my bacon. That's not the point. Is it the point? No it's not the point.

I just don't want to become one of those people who can only see things one way. I want my perceptions stretched and challenged. I want to be open to new visions and revisions. Ok I totally stole that from T.S. Eliot. Sue me it's a really good line. Seriously go read Prufrock. Do it now. Why aren't you going? Geez some people.

I'm just realizing that most of us develop these very particular views or paradigms that define our lives. We act from them. We live from them. We rarely challenge ourselves at all. Unless we're open to people messing with us and challenging us we basically just act the same way with minor modifications for our entire lives. That's so boring. For instance, I hate country. But I probably need to get over that cause there could possibly be some good country out there. I'm not saying I actually believe that statement or I think that I'm going to be proved wrong, but it's probably worth giving it a shot at least. Who knows? I do like Johnny Cash after all.