Robin Benway: October 2008

So. Did you all enjoy your September? Did you miss me? I hope so, because I missed you!

What have I been doing, anyway, rather than blogging for you lovely peeps? Well, Twittering of course, only because I have a sick love for mundane details, especially when they're my mundane details. I flirted with & then committed to being a vegetarian, which means I've been spending a lot of time staring at tofu and thinking, "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" (Please send recipes, fellow vegetarians!) I went to a wedding in Wyoming, too, and proved I was a tourist by getting really excited about a deer sighting. (Apparently deers are the squirrels of Wyoming.)

Oh yeah. I've also been writing a new book.

It's funny to say it like that, only because to say I'm writing implies that I'm, y'know, writing, rather than procrastinating on writing. My awesome friend Dallas once asked me about my creative process and I listed it out in five easy steps:

1) Get a venti light espresso frappuccino at Starbucks.

2) Search for [insert current favorite band]'s concert clips on YouTube in the name of "research".

3) Realize that you're late for your manicure appointment.

4) Hate yourself for avoiding writing & doing steps 1-3 instead.

5) Grudgingly open Word document and force yourself to write 1000 words so you're not filled with self-loathing for the rest of the day.

I'm joking (sort of)! The truth is that when I'm writing, I also have a lot of time to think, which led to some interesting thoughts after my brother & I discussed the question, "Can a song really change your life?"

I say yes. YES YES YES! My answer probably isn't a surprise for anyone who's talked to me/read my blog/seen me dancing while driving, but my brother wasn't convinced. He said that books have changed his life, but never a song. (My brother: giving me monthly heart attacks since 1980).

Of course my brain started spinning and I wondered, why do these things change our lives? Why can a melody comfort you during your worst times, or why can two paragraphs in a book make you quit your job and start an entirely different one? Maybe it was too much caffeine, or perhaps I'm just an overly weepy & sentimental person, but it made me think about the Red String of Fate, the idea that soulmates are tied together by a red string that leads them to one another.

Now that's all lovely and amazing and yay for soulmates, but what if there are other strings that tie us to music and art and words? What if every time we hear that song, or read that chapter, or see that film scene, it's like another string that ties us to the things we love? And the more books we read and music we hear, we keep connecting to a greater world, weaving a tapestry with the people around us?

I wasn't a philosophy major or anything, but I have to say, I kind of like my theory. (And yes, I'm totally & completely sober, so don't even ask. And no, my parents weren't hippies.)

So in honor of my idea, here are some things that are making me feel better about our crazy world. In a day where my panic level is directly related to the font size on CNN.com, it's nice to have something else to watch. I'm not saying we shouldn't pay attention to current events, but if we're going to make room for all the bad stuff, we should probably put some good things on the pile, as well.

I've watched the Sigur Ros DVD "Heima" about 7 or 8 times this past week alone and it somehow manages to be both soothing and massively inspiring, which is just what I need. I know Sigur Ros isn't everyone's cup of tea, but give it a try.

Sigur Ros, "Von" (live from the "Heima" DVD)