Living Deliberately.
Twelve years ago, the five of us woke up in a a tiny crappy hotel room that we all were sharing while we recorded the new Arma Angelus record. I slept on the floor next to the bathroom. I woke up with everyone stepping over me to shower - I was always designated as last because apparently I took too long with my morning rituals. When I walked out of the shower the television was on in the room as the dudes packed up what they needed for the day. Dan said, “A plane crashed into the World Trade Center.” Not knowing the extent of the damage, I said, “Oh, no way. That’s crazy.”
The five of us hopped in the van and headed toward the studio outside of Boston where we were recording our new album, “When Sleeplessness Is Rest From Nightmares.” When we arrived, we immediately turned on the television to find that a second plane had crashed as well.
Our story is like many others. Huddled around a television in complete shock feeling vulnerable, terrified, angry, and sad all at once. For some odd reason, I pulled out my disposable camera and clicked a picture of the television we were all watching. Very faintly, it shows one of the towers still standing.
Filed away in one of my many scrapbooks, I look at this picture often. Placed underneath is my boarding pass from the day before. American Airlines in Boston - the same airline and the same airport where the planes were taken and it reminds me of how quickly life can be taken away simply based upon timing.
Since then, I am constantly beating myself up over how well I am using my time here. It is a struggle to constantly motivate myself to become more and better than I was the day before but if anything good came out of that day in September, it should be a reminder to all of us to live as well and as hard as we possibly can.
And I believe the best way to honor their legacy is not by wasting the time we still have but by creating, exploring, and raging harder than ever because someday our light will go out and it would be a tragedy if we didn’t live as hard and as genuine and as deliberate as possible.
The five of us hopped in the van and headed toward the studio outside of Boston where we were recording our new album, “When Sleeplessness Is Rest From Nightmares.” When we arrived, we immediately turned on the television to find that a second plane had crashed as well.
Our story is like many others. Huddled around a television in complete shock feeling vulnerable, terrified, angry, and sad all at once. For some odd reason, I pulled out my disposable camera and clicked a picture of the television we were all watching. Very faintly, it shows one of the towers still standing.
Filed away in one of my many scrapbooks, I look at this picture often. Placed underneath is my boarding pass from the day before. American Airlines in Boston - the same airline and the same airport where the planes were taken and it reminds me of how quickly life can be taken away simply based upon timing.
Since then, I am constantly beating myself up over how well I am using my time here. It is a struggle to constantly motivate myself to become more and better than I was the day before but if anything good came out of that day in September, it should be a reminder to all of us to live as well and as hard as we possibly can.
And I believe the best way to honor their legacy is not by wasting the time we still have but by creating, exploring, and raging harder than ever because someday our light will go out and it would be a tragedy if we didn’t live as hard and as genuine and as deliberate as possible.