I am easily the introverted dork who will spend hours watching videos and reading articles. Typically I have two purposes for doing this:

1) To expand my knowledge

2) To be swept away with emotion

The first of the two is a bit more straight forward. You see a piece of media with a flashy headline about a topic and you become intrigued. So you hit the link and allow the journey to unfold. Sometimes it’s complex like learning about social justice movements or something simpler like how to grow vegetables. What is always a rush for me is the emotion I feel when watching/reading these works. Sometimes you laugh, are enraged, brought to tears and even reminded that there still is humility and hope in the world.

Quite often it is the emotions of these experiences that broaden my perspective of global and local issues. They impact my values and my beliefs. They have played a detrimental role in influencing who I am and my purpose in life. I like to think that my purpose is to try to make the world a brighter place in whatever way I can. This doesn’t mean that I will be the next Martin Luther King or Wangari Maathai but it certainly doesn’t mean that I cannot try.

So what exactly do I mean by getting swept away with emotions. It’s the words, images, sounds, and smells. It is these elements that speak to your senses and pull at your soul. They help you develop an affinity with creator(s) and become part of a shared experience. A great example of this is the “Solo, Piano – N.Y.C” by Anthony Sherin. At some point, we have all been exposed to music and art in its varying forms. Watching a video like this means something different to each viewer. To me it reminds me of my childhood – my failed attempts at trying to master instruments and the enjoyment I took from trying new things.

It also reminds me of my last summer in Toronto. The city had participated in an international art campaign called “Play Me, I’m Yours,” where pianos were left in random and unique locations throughout the city. One of which, happened to be in a major park not far from my home. One evening, myself and a dozen coworkers decided to have a pie party where we would drink wine and make pies from scratch and stay up until the wee hours. Toronto, being Toronto, by midnight it was extremely hot from baking so we decided to relax at the park. It was one of my favorite memories of Toronto. It went something like this: 2am, a huge park booming with people of all walks of life, a random piano and at least thirty random strangers all gathered around it playing sing-a-long songs and enjoying alcoholic beverages (hidden under various items). My crew and I and were ecstatic when we discovered this gathering and instantly changed our plans and joined the group.

The singing, laughing and community building went on until the park security eventually shut down the show and everyone dispersed. It was truly a magical experience. You feel a connection to people without having to say anything. You simply feel accepted and safe.

These emotions come back to me when I watch this video. I’m then overwhelmed with sadness as the piano is destroyed. It reminds me of when the pianos were removed in Toronto…the missing sounds of music, signing and laugher on the bustling streets of down town. It reminds me of when something beautiful is lost. It’s like being at a camp fire, that little spark that people take for granted, assuming that the fire will continue to burn and then disappointed when they are left in darkness. For some however, they may look up and discover the beauty of the sky that often provides just enough lighting until the dawn and it’s realized that the journey never fully ends.

To me, this is what getting swept away feels like. When I finish watching/reading something, it doesn’t end there it’s now a part of my life. Time that cannot be taken back and knowledge that I cannot un-know, perhaps forget, but it’s still an experience that is intricately woven into a part of my life.