privilege (2015) from gardening by amar lal

it can be hard to find moments of calm in the city. omnidirectional noise, the inescapable presence of other people, ubiquitous advertising – the constant stimulation is often exhausting. anxieties about directions, train delays, meeting times, social gatherings, and career occupy mental space, drowned out intermittently by the infinite scroll through carefully curated snapshots of others’ lives. each vignette provides a new standard to compare oneself against, and the anxieties return. i find that nature grounds me. simply being near a body of water slows my breathing and heart rate. I can lose myself in the sound of waves at a beach. sunsets and clouds provide hours of visual stimulation. country landscapes drift past each other on long drives, each giving way to another, equally amazing. in these moments of beauty, everything falls away except for an
appreciation of the present. this calm gives me a certain clarity and self-awareness. i am privileged to lead an existence where over-stimulation is my biggest worry. every stimulus is an opportunity, and to live any other way than fully engaged, involved, and immersed would be a waste.

Tracklist

1.	privilege (2015)	4:38

Credits

from gardening, released September 28, 2019

License

CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. See the Creative Commons website for details.