Why do I greet people who show up here with a long face?
Well, there are multiple reasons. First off, isn't it just plain cool? Look at that sly face. Look at those transclucent curtains. Look at the majestic city behind them. The vent on which the sculture lies. It's a wonderful image.
Well, it's not just an image. It's an album cover. If you were surprised, go back, click it, and read this while you're listening.
Faith in Strangers is a song by Andy Stott, part of an album called Faith in Strangers released in 2014. I want people to listen to this song. It represents who I am. I see no better way to greet viewers to a website that is a part of my identity.
You see, I live my life in fear. I couldn't care less about my mortality or my fortune. I live in fear of how I will change. I live in fear of how others will change.
Change brings many things. Positive and negative. I fear both. Yet, I know it is evitable.
I first came across this song during the part of my life with the most change. I had to move out to college. Life demanded I change. Yet, I was adamant that while I would have to live in a different place, do different things, meet different people, I would not change. I shall win over change.
I knew nothing about the world. I knew nothing about people. My anger and pessimism tinged everything I interacted with an aura of darkness and melancholy. I relished it, and expected it to stay the same. Oh, what a fool.
You see, I underestimated people. I met many. People are nice. People are kind. People see hope. People love. No aura of darkness can be sustained with people around.
I didn't just meet any people. I met the best people. I met wonderful people.
To most, these would be just normal people. But change had its way. I saw good things in people. I outlooked the flaws.
Soon, I could not recognize the stranger in the mirror. Who had I become? Where was I? Who am I?
I had realized what change had done. But I wasn't going to let change sneak around. I was going to embrace change. I manufactured a silhouette that I wanted to be and mirrored the light.
Yet, that had failed either. I could simply not keep up with change. Change had won. But soon, the stranger in the mirror became me. And my past had become strange.
I would reflect on my past self every time I listened to this song. Yet that wasn't my fear. I was scared of the person I would become. Faith in Strangers helped me overcome this fear.
I'm scared that the person in the future won't believe in the things that currently drive me. Won't fight for the things I fight for. I'm scared that they'll resign to doing the easy things and fail the world.
But now, I can hope. I can dream. I can have faith in the world. I am only a part of it. I can have faith in the strangers I will become.
Update: I know that the lyrics reference The Metamorphosis by Kafka, I just chose to have my own little interpretation.