There are things I encounter that reach those parts between who I think I am and who I actually am when something catches me off guard. These are parts that, at many times, I didn’t know were accessible.
That’s what art does when it works. I am not talking about good or bad art, because all art is good; it just depends on the moment we encounter it. And if we find it at the right time, it finds a crack and enters through it. For example, today, I’ve been questioning the face I’ve been wearing, felt a rush of energy I forgot I needed, and cried over memories I didn’t realize I was holding onto.
These three pieces that I am inviting you to experience today, found three different cracks. One confronted me with how much of myself I’ve shaped for others, another gave me back something I didn’t know I’d lost, while another made me cry from beauty, which might be the rarest kind of tears there is.
Error 404: Beat in the Glitch by Haku
When I first gazed at this piece, I couldn’t stop thinking about the distance between who we are and who we’ve been taught to present. We’ve reshaped our beliefs, our taste, and even the things we claim to love, so gradually that we can’t tell the difference anymore between what’s ours and what we’ve absorbed from the expectation to be seen a certain way.
There’s a face underneath the mask most of us are wearing. There’s a soul that existed before it started doing what it was supposed to do to get the most attention, to be cool, or for any other reason. This piece made me wonder how much of that original face I am still wearing and how much I’ve traded away without realizing it.
I have a playlist that is not saved or organized but lives so perfectly in my head. There is a handful of songs I always reach for when I need to feel like myself again, when the energy is low, and I need to be reminded of my own rhythm. I always know which songs they are because of the strong emotional connection I’ve formed with them and they come to me only when those emotions are awakened.
This song joined that playlist immediately and what I find the most interesting is that it’s not popular. I hadn’t heard it before and I’ve also not seen many people talking about it either. And yet, it did more for me in a few minutes than most things I encounter in a week. What this reminded me of is that the things with the deepest impact on us are often the ones that never went viral, trended, or reached the people who needed them.
This one reached me, and I hope it reaches you too.
If the previous piece lifted me back up, this one broke me open. I almost cried listening to it, and I am still not entirely sure I can explain why.
Everything this piece is made of (the voice, the melody, the lyrics, the visuals, and the emotional weight) worked together in a way that surfaced memories I hadn’t visited in a long time.
They are memories that make me cry precisely because of how much beauty they hold, because of the way I lived them, and they still carry that weight inside me.
I think most people have at least one song that does this to them. The song that bypasses everything rational and speaks directly to whatever is sitting beneath the surface.
I have heard this song before, but at those times, I wasn’t ready for it.🌹
Eduard, thank you so much for this article and your beautiful words. And thank you for always appreciating art of all kinds. I’m grateful that my work is touching you in some way and helping you soften into the most vulnerable part of yourself. Sending you so much love 🤍