Preach

 

Go to church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Notre Dame Basilica in our very own Montreal^)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

do you feel small yet?

Perfectly Alone

“Nova” by Burial & Four tet. Peace.

Sometimes I wonder if I was meant for another age, a time before technology became a substitute or transformer of almost all human activities. From the way we transport ourselves, to the way we take care of ourselves, or even the way in which we connect with other human beings,
it’s as if nothing is unmediated by technology anymore.
Before industrialization, before our society broke from tradition to jet into what we call “Modern” times, people probably used weird toothbrushes. But seriously, even my toothbrush is electric. They had to wait for their hair to dry, didn’t have voluminous mascara (were they uglier?)and they had to ride a horse or some shit if they wanted to see their friends, which, I don’t know about you, would make me reconsider who I would put that much energy into hanging out with.
While we believe technology to make our lives easier, faster, I think we often overlook the consequences of how such easiness and fastness is shaping who we are as human beings. At this point in time, I think our concepts of "nature” and “authenticity” are suffering from an age of distraction—an age where we cannot take our time, focus, because the world pulls our attention in a thousand different ways at once. We have adapted to being bombarded with advertisements, being surrounded by strangers, while listening to our headphones [on a bike] and watching for traffic. This is “natural”.

Consequently, we fascinate ourselves with similarly stimulating things such as video games, electric toothbrushes and television instead of more focused and productive activities such as painting, writing poetry or spending necessary time with loved ones (while waiting for our hair to dry). Even spending time on Facebook, and this blog, are recreating something authentic— that is, my personality— through technology. However, the image you all have of me is constrained by the way in which the technology available limits my possibilities for expression (it has been said that “the commands of the applications we use command us”). In that sense, you don’t really know me, but you know what is fabricated about me through the Timeline format of statuses and posts and the pages available for me to “like”. All technology acts in this way, by distancing us from the true subject or activity in order to make life “easier”. What becomes of this is a more superficial world where what is easy and fast always win, even our connections to other people.
Back in a time where one could not simply hide behind a screen, a text message, our parents had to nervously call their crush’s house phone and establish a relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Jones before even speaking to their son or daughter. While we feel as though technologies such as phones and the internet are making us all more connected, we must also see the way in which these technologies alter the genuineness of relationships and alter our sense of timing. In an era of instant “friending” and instant everything, nothing seems to mean as much as it used to (when you had to ride a horse or some shit to a friend’s house). We are, in this technological age, perfectly alone,
content or oblivious to have technology replace other forms of authentic fulfillment.

“Fish don’t know they’re in water”

~Derek Sivers

Skaty Katy

Ketto by Bonobo

It’s funny that I’ve never talked about figure skating on this blog, when it is easily the activity I am most passionate about in the world!
I’ve been figure skating as long as I can remember, since the age of 3. I picked up ice hockey at the age of 7, and the influence that hockey has had on my figure skating (and vice versa) should not be overlooked. One day I’ll write a post about hockey, too. In any case, I’m sure people would understand me better if they could see me on the ice. It’s not an exaggeration to say that many aspects of my personality can be directly tied to the fact that I am a figure skater. After all, it’s what I love most. Me in my element.

Figure skating is a rush of cold wind. The skip of my heart when I take off for a jump. Taking one push and suddenly being in motion. The adrenaline of quick footwork— rockers, counters, mohawks, swing rolls! It’s about knowing my edges, knowing how far I can push myself before I fall. It’s about going as fast as I can while not running into the boards. Skating is nailing a huge jump-- one that I thought was too big for me to handle but then I find myself standing up, surprised, on one foot. Skating is coming out of a jump with more speed than I went into it with.
Skating is magic.
It’s dazzling performance, enthusiasm, and making the audience feel like a part of the program. When I smile I can feel it gliding through my body, extending to each stroke. Skating is bursting energy. Physics. Spinning like a top and the world turning into a blur. It’s knowing how to maintain balance even when I’m too dizzy to see anything.
Figure skating is full of crazy maneuvers, from flying camels to shoot-the-ducks to axels to salchows to flips and lutzes. “Ice speak” could be its own language. Here are a few maneuvers so you can get a taste of what I love so much!

My double loop + double loop combination

My layback spin into a pull-down spin I kind of made up

My flying camel into catchleg spin

To me life should be like a good skating routine— it should be equally as fun as it is polished. That being said, figure skating might be the reason I’m so into things that are vibrant, elaborate and embellished. Being a creative process, figure skating helped me develop a love for art. I would even admit that my artistic style reflects the figure skating aesthetic, colorful and pretty. The ice is also where I developed a taste for music and found out how I could express myself in a kinetic way (this surely has been therapeutic). At the same time, skating is the reason why I’m obsessed with thrill and sensation. Maybe why I live so “fast”. It’s why I love to go out and why I can never stop dancing. I’m always chasing the feeling of being on the ice, a hundred miles per hour, music blasting, adrenaline pumping, feeling every part of my body alive, engaged!
I have worked so diligently in skating throughout my life that it is second nature. It is no longer work but complete artistic freedom,
the clean ice as a blank canvas. My sanctuary.