Two days ago, I had written an article titled: “Am I weird?”, and the more I thought about it. The more I realized that when I go deeper into it, I might want to tweak some things. Let me explain. Just two days ago, when I was shadowing the digital music director at my workplace, I realized that I love not knowing, but only when it meets certain criteria. Like when I get to interview somebody, and they talk about how they write lyrics. It’s because the poet and writer in me can connect to some of that process, and that knowing makes the unknowing so much easier. I could be sitting in front of Lady Gaga, talking about her creating music, and I would not bat an eye.
Yes, I would appreciate the genius, but there is something in her I understand. Whereas for Kanye West, my eyes wouldn’t stop blinking because I don’t really understand his process. I don’t really relate to the mad genius that is Kanye West. I loved standing there with the digital director, watching as he showed me what software he uses to edit his audio and his videos. How the soundboard works, how the cameras switch for the live stream. I got this tingling, exciting feeling. I get SOOO excited that someone could have this level of expertise, it excites me SOOO much. There’s no sense of Oh man, I am never going to get to that level, or I am so lost. I love being lost. I think that’s where my wanting to interview geniuses comes from. I don’t want to understand them. I just want to appreciate them.
Then comes my other side. The side that connects with specific content and wants to learn how to master it. I love the feeling of not knowing what anything is when I start something new. It sounded like a foreign language, and suddenly, after a couple of months, I had mastered it. Like with Premier Pro, I did not know how to crop a clip or how to add text. I couldn’t even edit Instagram reels or use CapCut, and my 12-year-old brother self-taught himself and has been doing it for 2 years. But now I could teach somebody Premiere Pro, and I thought it all looked so weird to me on day one. I guess what I am trying to say is I am a learner, and I love not knowing, but to apply that skill practically, I need to find joy in it. Some people are capable of doing parts of their job that they don’t love, but I find it very difficult to even spend a bit of my time doing something that I don’t think adds any value to me or others, and it objectively might.
But when it comes to interviewing, I love asking people about whatever career they may be in and finding joy in their passion. I relate to not just the content but the emotion with which they speak about their career and those specific parts of their jobs. I am here to learn, but the thing I wish to learn most about is people. I wish to see a world where we are all more curious about each other. Not understanding how someone does something is a learning curve and not a block. Music is a universal language, yet we all like different music. We all have different favorite artists and bands. Music brings us together because, despite not understanding the language of the song, we understand the tonality of those notes, the emotion with which the singer sings. I wish for us to be more curious about Vancouver and its music scene