Patterns

I think by the time I actually finish this it will have been a semester in the making. I have so many thoughts about it, I just cannot formulate them all at once. 

This part: 2/21

Patterns, patterns. This past week has made me miss them. We had power outages and loss of water all over where I live, and all of my classes were cancelled. I was fortunate that things did not become too much of a tragedy for me, but it is difficult to watch as others are really struggling with how things hit this week. It was all because we had a few nights below freezing and some snow. Now, there is a lot of aftermath--mostly burst pipes and things like that. Almost all of my roommates and I decided to stay at our dorm through it and tough it out. It wasn't that bad, and it was even fun and exciting in some ways. We had a lot of good conversations, and everyone wandered around wrapped in blankets and huddled together to keep warm. I never thought I could want a shower or a hot cup of coffee, or even just light, quite so badly as I did. After a night of not having power, my roommates and I woke up at four am to a blue light flashing on the ceiling, and amidst the freezing cold and leaking roof, we were all super happy and excited and thankful, just for the lights to be back on. The power went out and came back again after that, but it was just a moment where I realized how important the small things were. 

I am picking up this blog post a just a week after that storm took place, to say that yes, indeed, patterns and routine are really important. I have had just a lovely week this week, with that routine. 

Patterns are the stuff of life, and they have been meaningful to me recently. The concept of pattern keeps coming up over and over in new and mysterious ways. First, what interests me about my history degree is the choices people make and the way that human nature is shaped into the stories of the past. Patterns happen in history, and they are critical to understanding human nature. 

Then, there is my music degree. Patterns, simplicity, beauty, and structure are what makes music what it is. I am learning about the sentence structure of music writing this week, and about motives, themes, and phrases. A motive is the smallest musical unit that can be developed. Now, there's a textbook definition for you, reader. Essentially, a motive is just a few notes, put together in a small, unique way, that repeat over and over throughout a piece. Once you can listen to music and be listening for motive, you find that music is incredibly complex and it's really neat to see how different pieces are masterfully written by their composers and how their motives influence the pieces. Themes and phrases function on a different basis, but all of them relate to pattern. 

Human interaction forms a pattern. I am so interested in the patterns I see all around me every day, in how people interact, in choices that are made and the general outcomes, and in sitting back and watching them as they progress. Patterns, patterns, patterns. It is like clockwork, sometimes. Now, I think what I can take away from this is a sensitivity in my own life for the patterns I see in myself. I recognize a pattern in myself and then I make an assessment as to whether it is healthy for me or whether I should change my behavior. I also think that there is a lot I can learn from second hand experience, if I am open to listening. 

I think it is funny that I wanted to write a blog post all about patterns. Deeper meanings fascinate me in a way that I cannot quite describe. I think that I am just wired to look for patterns. I also take my time to really assess and think deeply about situations, feelings, and people, and I do not find myself making judgements on life. This has it's goods and it's bads. I often seem to be taking too much time to ponder, which can be annoying to others, but in a good way, I do not immediately jump on the critical bandwagon. And the good news is that I enjoy intuitively analyzing situations.

4/21

Anyhow, here is the blog post again, I'm back. I wrote another post in between this one, but that's alright. I can't believe it, but the semester is almost over. This post is long overdue.

I played Hero in Much Ado About Nothing at my university a few weekends ago, and absolutely loved it.

I was drawing on myself in pen while doing music theory homework and felt aesthetic-ey.