I started writing this blog entry about four months ago and stopped mid-draft. I think my brain wasn’t ready to let it all out just then:
At the tail end of 2009, I nearly lost my mind. I was lost, directionally incapable and missing.
I was messing around on my guitar when I realized that the song I was fumbling with was the same song that kind of just materialized on its own while I was sitting mindlessly watching The Godfather II a few weeks later. It’s the same sort of sensation of satisfaction you get when you stop trying to remember a thought or stop trying to force your eyes to see in the dark and just relax your brain and eyes.
Eventually the profound pours in and the room illuminates.
_____This is where I stopped writing those months ago. After my motorcycle ride today, this is where it picked back up_____
There were two topics bouncing around in my head in the last year: trails and speed. I couldn’t really put my finger on the latter until after this trip.
(I wrote this first part last year on my iPad while drinking coffee far too late at night)
Trails:
Trails that are generated accidentally or purposefully are residual artifacts of the existence of humans.
Accidental trails include organic emissions such as natural bodily functions, procreation and generational presence, footprints etc. Purposeful trails include anything that is manufactured including agriculture, products, architecture and so on.
The best products evoke an emotional connection between the user and the product and disappear from the user experience when being used. A product should stay silent and not interrupt the user while the experience is being had. There is a declining arc of interruption that is acceptable however.
For instance when a user is first interacting or interfacing with an object to understand its function, its presence is inherent to the learning. over time, this interrupt should exponentially decline to the point that the item “disappears” and the user is just left with their experience.
We are building technologies that fade away, that go into the background so people can focus on what is most meaningful to them,” -Jack Dorsey
Speed:
Today I skimmed past the earth at a humble 70 miles per hour, eight inches off the ground. This was the fastest I felt safe. When I got to my destination, got off my bike and breathed, life became slow-motion. Still now as I write this, it seems like the tape is only now catching up with time.
The high isn’t from the speed. The high comes from watching the world slow down.
We are perpetually trying to move faster to slow down now. Freezing time to create perpetual moments. We get that much closer to aligning the current moment with our most current memory.
To become, if only for a moment, immortal with now.
To cease forgetting.
It isn’t an ego game. It’s a mind game. How long can you freeze now?
That moment when the wind blew her hair and obscured the sun as she smiled with you, laying in the park.
That moment when your eyes where completely burned out by the tears of losing someone.
That moment when you and your friend had a real connection that transcended into laughter as you are both suddenly aware of this moment.
That moment when…
//end transmission.
Downhill racer, indeed.
