There’s this album I used to listen to named Eat, Sleep, Repeat. It’s a downer record, for sure, as you can imagine by the title. Lyrically, it explores the cyclicality of life and also the meaninglessness of it.
(I was emo when this came out so BACK OFF!)
The thought of a single human-life being summed up by the words
“Eat
Sleep
Repeat”
can kind of be frightening.
Life can be like that though, so cyclical it often feels purposeless.
Eat, Sleep, Dance!
I’ve realized since the album’s release that the singer (or character of lyrics, maybe) wasn’t condemning routine; he was just down. He was in a valley. He was also an artist.
(Foolish, I feel now, after adopting his outlook as doctrine).
Artists tend to overanalyze life (or under-analyze life) into whatever they want it to be. If they want to be stuck in a hamster wheel, they will build themselves a hamster wheel or color the world as such. There’s an obvious temper of youth which cloaks the music and message; it’s crazy what you identify yourself with when you’re a kid.
I’ve since discovered that life is naturally cyclical, and that’s alright. We can have good days and bad, good years and bad. Many of us see the big picture and can sail steady through it all. I look back at myself and wonder why I couldn’t. I was hyper-responsive, I guess, the type to get stuck in valleys and curse them only to later summit peaks and praise them, all the while missing meaning, missing the purpose of creation, missing consistency.
How are you holding up these days?
One day, I want to write and record another album. I think I’ll title it
Eat. Coffee. Poop. Netflix. Work. Eat. Blog. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
And it’s going to be a happy record, one that sees the good in the bad, one that can sail. “Isn’t it pretty to think so?” Yes. Yes, I think so.
Departing Queries:
- Are there any outdated doctrines from your youth that you’re still holding on to?
- Do you focus on what is true and noble, or are you living only in response to the temporary?
- What are the routines in your life that color your identity, make you who you are?
P.S. I still really like this album.
The Number Kevin 
I used to think if someone was happy, he was either ignorant or misguided. I’ve since come to know people who have discovered the joy that abides in spite of circumstances. To quote Bob Dylan, “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”
I think of life as EAT, SLEEP, THINK, FEEL,TRY, REPEAT
I think of life as EAT, SLEEP, THINK, FEEL, TRY, REPEAT. Kevin, I hope you write some happy songs. Lately I’m a tired of listening to sad, negative music too. Mom