memento mori

so it goes.

i’ve always been an explorer, particularly of the music kind. i love discovering new songs, new artists, new genres. in particular, i used to listen to (but fell out of touch with) hip hop and rap. i rediscovered the genre not too long ago, after stumbling across music from mac miller. i was instantly hooked. though he wasn’t an artist i frequented, he always remained at the back of my mind, reminding me how i found my way back to one of my favorite types of music. he did a lot for me, and i always looked up to him as a talented, ingenuous, grounded, influential, and highly respected musician. you don’t find many of those anymore.

the news hit me like a punch in the gut that friday afternoon. my heart dropped when i heard about your terrible fate. i didn’t focus on class for the rest of the day. i couldn’t believe it. you didn’t deserve that. you had so much going for you. i’m so sorry that you were yet another victim to such an overpowering demon.

then, i delved deeper into your music. i barely even scratched the surface of your discography. there were so many songs i never knew about, yet didn’t get to experience until now. i feel awful. i wish i had appreciated you more earlier. you wrote a song standing up to our president, you spoke against him in a defiant stance that proved you knew how to use your platform. you used it for good. for better. and now, your platform is empty, and you won’t ever be able to send your message again. it’s just not fair.

we will remember you. we promise. your legacy will live on. thank you.

i think for us, this is a reminder that life is so, so precious. it can slip between our fingers at any moment, even if we think we’re grasping onto it. even if we think we’re surviving. i think we often forget how fragile we are as a species, how delicate our bones are and soft our skin is. we like to think of ourselves as superheroes, these amazing creatures that will be prospering for eternity. we often forget about our own mortality. what makes that so devastating, is that we are shaken to the core the very moment we are reminded firsthand that life isn’t everlasting. with every single reminder, we slowly begin to realize that our seconds are ticking away. they could be ticking away for the next 70 years of our lives, or our final tick could be within the foreseeable future. we never know. and that’s what terrifies us. we are only human.

so never forget. memento mori.

–

E.L.

 

C.V.G.

Last night should’ve been a normal night, where everyone attending the Before You Exit concert in Orlando, Florida had the night of their lives. Last night should’ve been a night full of dancing, singing, jumping, and fun. Concerts are a place for people to come together and appreciate music, they’re supposed to be a place that nobody can get hurt under any circumstance.

But that wasn’t the case. No, that was far from the case last night.

I remember watching videos on YouTube in 2011 when I was just twelve years old and coming across this girl that went by the screen name of zeldaxlove64. She was a singer, who frequently covered pop songs that were my favorites in that era of my preteen life. I thought she was so cool; she had an incredible voice for a person of her age, she loved the Zelda franchise as much as I did, and she was avidly charming. I fell in love with her, her personality, and she easily became my first musical idol whom I truly looked up to. I began to keep up with her, and when I discovered that she was releasing an album later that year, I was absolutely elated. Though I fell out of touch with her eventually, she left a lasting impression on me for her unique voice and shining talent. Christina was the source of much of my passion for music, as I had never before experienced someone who put so much heart and soul into their voice.

However, yesterday, June 10, 2016, at only 22 years, she was taken from us last night in an absolutely senseless act of violence. An act of violence that could’ve been avoided a million ways. I woke up this morning with a heavy heart and a dreadful mixture of disgust, pain, and disbelief. It still pains me to write, think, and say rest in peace. How can humans be so cruel, to just end a life intentionally?

This incident will not only become a single mark in a wall of tallies, just another one of those sad crimes involving a gun and the death of a person. We hear about gun violence every single day: Another school shooting today: 22 dead. Next news topic now, let’s talk about baby pandas at the zoo. How many deaths are we going to experience before something is done about gun safety and control in this country? Why do we live in a world where we value the Second Amendment over the safety and well being of the citizens it’s supposed to protect, all because we want to “protect ourselves” by using those guns? Haven’t you seen that currently, more harm is being done than any good?

What’s done is done, unfortunately. We can’t bring Christina back, we can’t turn back time to fix this, but we can learn from this. The fact that security couldn’t be bothered to thoroughly check bags and ensure that the people entering the venue are unarmed is absolutely baffling. I myself attended a concert two weeks ago, and all security did was peek into my bag, but not nearly enough to notice the food I snuck in. Security should not be lazy when it comes to safety; if the security at Christina’s event had even bothered to check people, which takes less than a minute, a tragedy could’ve been prevented. The takeaway of this situation and any other firearm tragedy should be that we need to take the necessary measures to make our events, whether they be concerts or theatrical plays, to check bags and use tools such as metal detectors. This. Could. Have. Been. Prevented.

I watched her grow up from a girl who loved video games and singing behind a camera to a powerful, influential artist conquering the stage. With every video she uploaded came a raw, compelling cover of a song that somehow made it better. It was obvious that she lit up every room she walked into, and she brought nothing but smiles to each and every person she impacted. Christina was the brightest star in the galaxy, and we’ll never forget her, her incredible talent, and her pure heart.

Rest easy, angel. We love you. x

E.L.