EARLYBIRD: NEW YEAR’S SONG

 On an overcast February morning, I ventured into my new friend Vicky’s house for a long (but fulfilling) day of filming, discussion and consumption of her mother’s heavenly chive-onion pancakes. We met on the internet last November. She goes by the name of Earlybird and makes lovely and warmth-filled music and paintings. It’s mind-boggling who social media can lead you to sometimes. We met up a few weeks later with an almost immediate pouring of our hopes, dreams and fears in the creative world. It became clear that momentum was building. She wanted to do something together. So did I.

“When?”

“As soon as possible.”

“How? It’s only getting colder outside.”

“I can put on a few layers of socks and pants if it means creating something worthwhile.”

A back and forth ensued for the next few weeks and it became evident through our conversations that both of us were on the precipice of great change in our lives. I was contemplating a move and she was already planning one, both to opposite sides of the country. The anxiousness to DO something became more and more acute as the new year approached, not only for this project but also in our own personal lives. Aspirations we were impatiently waiting to achieve, changing as fast as we could to become a version of ourselves that wasn’t ready to exist yet. The new year passed and nothing had yet to be filmed. A snow storm in January made any number of socks or pants futile. Three cancelled shoots later, we found ourselves approaching the Lunar New Year (LNY). How much had we done since the western new year? Not much. How much had the world improved? Not much. We felt stuck, the same kind of stuck we felt last year. Stuck in spaces that we had respectfully outgrew, ready for change but stubbornly waiting to no avail. As I listened to the song she sent me on the way to LNY dinner, New Year’s Song (a song we intended to release with a filmed video on new year’s day. Yes, I laugh now at our overshooting ambition) I realize that perhaps, this is exactly how it was intended. It had to be late and because of it, we learned a lesson that was embedded right in the essence of Vicky’s music. What kind of lesson? Sarcastically and maybe a bit seriously, that we don’t have to follow the western calendar. That renewal doesn’t occur on our man-made timelines but happens when we’re ready to accept our reality and live it to our best ability. And when I finally learned to love the snow and cold weather, a warm day popped up a week later. We quickly but not in a panic-y way made plans to shoot this thing. When we met, it was magic. Easy going and focused more on having a meaningful time in each other’s company rather than agonizing over the deadline of a planned release. Not all projects will have the liberty to go like this but when they do, you better bask in it. The joy of doing exactly what you love with someone you admire with no expectations but to do your best and learn from it. It’s hard not to be discouraged by the tedium of life, sometimes it moves in quick sprints but most of the time, we just wait. But why wait when every day can be a chance for renewal just by accepting that you move at your own pace and that calendars are just squares with numbers. I sound like a dubious spiritual teacher now so I’ll leave it at that. My only hope for this video now is that we can watch it on any day of the year and feel renewed. An effect largely attributed to Earlybird’s lyricism and rapturous style of song. The piece for me becomes a reminder of a time in my life where I gained a lifelong friend in three months. Lightning in a bottle. All because nothing went the way we planned. You never know what kind of peace you can find when nothing goes the way you planned.