We Are Nowhere And It's Now

So I'm sitting in room 109, the student success centre in my school, and am currently listening to the song “I Watched You Taking Off” by Bright Eyes (of course) and can’t help but think how spontaneous this whole song feels. If you don’t know the song, because it isn't all that popular, it’s got this wind chime sound and there’s rain against pavement, and this eerie screeching kind of scream that happens every so often. I can’t help but think how perfect this song is. It’s grey outside and so that is fitting with the sound of rain in the song and the screaming is most definitely me expressing how much I want out of high school. I'm ready to graduate and be out of here.

It makes me wonder what kind of society we live in that condones the want to grow up before you’re ready for it. Really I mean that when I was 10 years old I was dying to be 16. And I think I missed out a lot of what has happening around me since I was so focused on what wasn't happening at all. This makes me sad for little 10 year old me, which I guess is self-pity and I've been trying to avoid that lately. But outside of me and my world it makes me sad that so many little kids are dying to be older than they are, dying to skip ahead years to be someone else. Why can’t we just live here and now and be satisfied with that? Maybe we aren't doing things to satisfy the need for newer and better things, which is why people grow up too fast.

The fact that 10 year olds now have cell phones is beyond me. Who are they texting? Do kids that age text? Or do they prefer to call? Do they have minutes? I feel like and old fart right now. Perhaps I'm an old soul after all.

I think we all need to listen to this one Bright Eyes songs called “We Are Nowhere And It’s Now”. Here are some of the lyrics that I think are really important:

“In our wheels that roll around
As we move over the ground
And all day it seems we've been in between the past and future town
We are nowhere, and it’s now
We are nowhere, and it’s now
You took a ten-minute dream in the passenger’s seat
While the world it was flying by
I haven’t been gone very long
But it feels like a lifetime”

I could go on and on about how important this song is let alone every Bright Eyes song because I love them so much, but I’ll spare you the details. We live in the now when we are happy. And in my adventures of trying to navigate the world, my main goal is to be happy. This song to me says that if you’re going to dream in the passenger’s seat, make sure you’re happy about missing out on the stuff that’ll be rolling by. At least that’s what I'm taking away from this. That and to live between Past and Future towns. 

Anyway, I was living in the now a few minutes ago before I sat down to write this and saw a kid almost get close lined by the branch of one of the trees in the forum at my school. It happens more often than you’d expect. It is moments like those that I am thankful for my smallness. I can walk under the branches with plenty of clearance. Go short people!

Thoughtfully yours,
Liv Eckert