m. winter ii

if you want to feel the midwest, if you want to see the people who live here, they’ll show the truth of their identity in the forms of winter, a season of death & silence, but also community and retreat. we both, despite never living anywhere else, despise the season. it feels so restrictive and grounding. as if now is the time to recharge and gather energy for the oncoming season. with nothing to do. but (as this blog has told us) perhaps re-evaluating anew will yield better results. i think m.winter ii reflects this change in tune. we’re taking this season, as well as the rest, less as their individualized, standardized essence and more as a flow of transcending transitions. summer becomes fall. fall becomes winter. winter becomes spring. spring becomes summer*. one is very truly without the other. we also are learning to recognize the value in retreating into our sacred space to rest, find peace in that sense of grounding, and take care of each other - as that’s really all you can do. as m.winter ii goes, the folk & country-esque tracks like home 1 & 2 by current joys and neil young’s old man open into a nostalgically fall aire with some smooth and stagnant subtleties to slow you down, reminisce of the snow on our sidewalk. akin to the weird days in february reaching 60° so does the track list with insomniac olympics by blockhead & whitney’s no woman as if to say get ready, it’s here. ending it all on perhaps my favorite find of the season, door to the cosmos by chihei hatakeyama, a track that forces attention and appreciation for almost nothing at all. winter is an exercise in gratitude.

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this had no doubt been one of our most productive seasons of moons thus far. equally, we’re now a year into these playlists, whether you’re listening or not, we’ve got no plans on stopping. keep an eye on our spotify for m.spring ii. it alike the season is already on its way. (a sentiment very much borrowed from Dave Erasmus)*