Blank Space

This weekend I was at a Taylor Swift concert in a massive football stadium. And at the risk pitting the world of 'Swifters' against me, I'm going to be forward and say it was just OK, if not border line boring and uninspiring. So much so that even my 9y, who has waited since February (her birthday gift), asked to leave the place about an 45min after Ms. Swift made her way on stage.

That to me was very telling and made me think why was it just an OK concert. Why wasn't I moved by this talented, and in my view, extremely intelligent woman. Everything was OK the lighting, the weather, the audience... Everything was pleasant and comfortable so numbingly comfortable. It was right out plain and boring like a slice of white bread. And that worries me, the kind of worry I lose sleep over.

Years ago I worked at a lighting design firm in Tel-Aviv. It was an extremely unique opportunity to hone and deepen my design skills. I worked with many light fixture manufacturers from around the world. On very rare occasions I would specify American fixtures, it had nothing to do with voltage differences, it had to do with the fixtures themselves. They were OK, they were functional, and of high quality, but they were not interesting, they did not move me emotionally or tell a story through their design. Like Taylor Swift, they too were making me feel numb.

This is why I worry, I worry because people like TS have a huge impact (Swift vs. Apple corporation, anyone?), the trickle down effect of her incredible abilities were reduced so much in the concert I attended, it felt I went to see a totally different singer than I expected. But TS's concert to me is only one symptom of how our culture is been driven into this Hunger Games numbing spiral of sorts. From quick fix reality TV shows, easy on the eye FB profile photos, to very pleasant concerts, who leave no actual mark inside our souls.

And it's an issue, because the great cultural legacy we will leave behind, might turn out to be very
dull and uninspiring. Which in turn will make our society very beige and lackluster.

For the sake of my 9y and her two other siblings I want to deepen the cultural legacy, so that their wings can spread wider. I want them to learn how to push the envelope, set out from the comfort of the box and get a little uncomfortable, so they too will better understand how to create, how to solve problems on their own not according to templet, so they won't grow to be culturally and emotionally numb. So they won't end up in a blank space.