Nothing is Inevitable
January 27, 2025Hi Friends :)
Long time no write yeah? Well I think that’s gotta change. And here’s why…
I’ve been lucky enough since my recent Grand Canyon rafting trip to house with my now dear dear friend Harrison in Salt Lake City. I say “now” because contrary to what people have thought upon seeing the two of us together being absolute goons on the streets and canyons around Salt Lake, we hadn’t met until that trip. It was day 0 when upon being in the same chore group that was on rest day, I asked if he wanted to watch the sunset with me. And it was there while we were sitting there watching beavers swim in the Colorado River’s glistening evening glow, he asked “So you marched drum corps?”. I was shook. “YOU KNOW WHAT DRUM CORPS IS?!?” I quickly turned surprised that someone else on this river trip knew what this crazy activity was. “Yeah, I marched two years in the Guard with the Boston Crusaders.” Damn, I thought, this man didn’t just know drum corps, he was one of the best in the activity.
What followed over the next three weeks was a fast merging of our brains until the rest of the crew on our trip just told us we shared one collective brain cell. There were endless conversations of the music that had shaped us, our joy for this ridiculous marching arts activity that shaped us, our dream to design one day for this art form of hope, storytelling and community, and a sharing of our most vulnerable selves that was greeted with nothing but love and curiosity. When people ask me what the Canyon gave me, I usually answer “the reminder of how amazing it is to be in community with others of shared interest pursuing this goal in a liminal space and time.” And really what I mean is, “it gave me Harrison.”
Now having been in Salt Lake almost 2 weeks all those great things from our time in the Canyon have continued. While we both work on separate projects during the day we are constantly sharing music that inspires us. We have been to many museums and concerts talking about what we like and don’t like about the art in front of us. We have collaborated on my postcard designs giving feedback and inspiration for what to do next and on Harrison’s musical compositions - just wait til he finishes what he is working on. It’s gonna be so lovely. I feel lucky to have seen the beginnings of this project. And I couldn’t forget the endless inside jokes that have formed. Frog, Raccoon, Corndog. :)
So I guess that all brings me to where I am right now. Writing in the beautiful Salt Lake City Library reflecting on the past month plus of this lucky life I get to live when I was reminded of a conversation Harrison and I had in the canyon about music and it’s “inevitability”.
I was watching Hank Green’s Vlogbrothers video, a 18 year long back and forth video blog between him and his brother John, when Hank said:
“The response rate [to call to actions for SciShow] is much higher, and I think that is in part because the people here understand that SciShow exists because we made it exist and it is not an inevitability. You understand that it’s not inevitable if you were a part of the creation of the thing. To people in the SciShow audience they only came in after it started existing. They don’t understand that it’s not inevitable. They don’t understand in the same way that a world without could easily exist. And that world would be worse. Because we need accurate well crafted science information that is also popular so that it can bring people into a respect for the power of scientific tools and scientific thinking”
“You understand that it’s not inevitable if you were a part of the creation of the thing.”
Hearing these words I recalled how In the midst of the documentary “American Symphony”, the story of Jon Batiste’s writing of a premiere work while also supporting his wife’s battle through cancer relapse, Jon says:
“What we love about music is not that it sounds good. What we love about music is that it sounds inevitable. It’s playing the thing that we all know is unfolding, whether we want to accept it or not. And it’s there always. You just need to harness it. Be open to it.”
Spending the last week each day trying to create a new postcard, I feel more intimately connected to this struggle of creation than I have in the past few months. If you were to watch the timelapse you would see endless second guessing of what one may deem the simplest decisions: what color to make the border, the shape of the heart I drew, and worst of all my handwriting. (Be thankful this essay is typed!) Harrison has watched me stare blankly into the middle distance as all ideas were emptied from my brain and heard the countless expletives and groans followed by “WHAT NOW!?!” And then he walks over, grabs the pencil and say’s “what about…” and the ideas are flowing again.
And well, I guess I am wondering what people would say if they had to take a guess of how much time I spent on each one? What was each element inspired by and how was each element created? I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can write to me here.
So what does all this have to do with “long time no write?” Well, I have felt so pulled in my life to create and share stories be it photographs, composing music, or writing about my travels and I have just believed that it’s inevitable that my art would create itself. Being the one consistent audience member of my life I can just relish in the private gallery showing of the ideas in my head. There’s just one problem, that means I don’t get to share them with anybody. And if there is anything I know in life: it’s about community. It’s about the people we share this strange and brief eternity with. And I would love it if you too could join in walking the halls of my mind and admiring what is on the gallery walls. Noticing, wondering, and being reminded of things in your own life. Already a dear friend has reminded me that it’s much better to be in the communities making change than on the outsides just talking about them. So I hope that in some way my art connects with you and if you feel so pulled, to create and share the stories of your life. That is after all what makes the community special. And if I could just tell you about what Nerdfighteria, the community around VlogBrothers, has done in the past 18 years, well you would be just as surprised as the rest of us. DFTBA (Don’t Forget To Be Awesome).
So I hope you join me on this journey. Whether as an artist yourself. (Which you are! And if you don’t believe me please go to your library and get the book: You are an Artist by John Green’s Wife Sarah Urist Green and get creating). You could sign up for my mailing list (I’m unsure of what that’ll be used for) or you can just send me your thoughts, and most of all please please please keep me accountable for sharing.
I’m committing to starting with the following process: twice a week for writing, the topics will be varied and chaotic as well as a consistent sharing of things I delighted in this week. Twice a week for instagram posts of photos or postcards you can follow me here @danregaladophotography, . And then as for the music… well we shall see. The best thing i got to do, as I read from Anne Lamott, put my butt in the chair.
I’ll leave you with this video and quote from Jon’s Grammy Acceptance speech:
“I believe this to my core, there is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor, the creative arts are subjective and they reach people at a point in their lives when they need it most. It’s like a song or an album is made and it almost has a radar to find the person when they need it the most. I mean, man. I like to thank God. I just put my head down and I work on the craft every day. I love music. I’ve been playing since I was a little boy. It’s more than entertainment for me, it’s a spiritual practice.”
“Every single artist that was nominated in this category I actually love and have had experiences, out of body experiences, with your music. I honor you. And this is for real artists, real musicians. Let’s just keep going. Be you. That’s it. I love you even if I don’t know you” - Jon Batiste
Thanks For Reading,
I love you <3
Dan