Hi everyone! It has been a while since I wrote for the UWM Post, but I am so glad to be back.
This piece starts a brand-new series: a life advice column that is now a part of the paper!
Optimistically, I would like this column to be published every week, as long as this fall semester doesn’t eat me alive. I will be answering any questions you send in and offering insight from some of my personal experiences. On top of that, I’ll be providing music and movie recommendations to help you get through this school year.
Without further ado, let’s get right into it! I couldn’t be more excited to go on this journey with you, and I hope you enjoy.
One Album:
While everyone else might have been on this train for years, I just hopped on the Lizzy McAlpine parade this past week and I could not be happier for doing so. I did miss out on her for years, with some of her folk-pop tracks already going viral, but I do not think her Joni Mitchell-inspired work could have entered my life at a better point.
Her new album, “Angel,” came out this last month, being my first introduction to her. In the span of a few short weeks, the record is already quickly turning into one of my favorite projects of the whole year.
“Angel” has a beautiful cover that is a muted swirl of confusing and sober colors. This perfect fall album immediately made me feel like I was living in a log cabin, overlooking a sprawling prairie with a pale blue sky and a faraway horizon with no end in sight. It invokes a feeling of sitting on the porch with a vivid quilt across my lap whilst sipping on a warm cup of coffee, watching my younger self play in the front yard, chasing around my since deceased childhood dog.
“Little House in the Big Woods” was a elementary school favorite book of mine, with a large part of that being due to the fact that the first installment in this classic series takes place in our beloved Wisconsin. I was heavily reminded of the pioneering novel throughout its hour-long run time, immediately sticking out as a visual inspiration during my listening experience. I was embarking on something familiar and cathartically thawing but with an unsuspecting harsher undertone.
I saved nearly the whole album to my library, but the standout tracks I wholeheartedly recommend are “Anybody’s Fool,” (which will be one of my favorite songs of the year) and “Ugly Things.”
“Anybody’s Fool“
The first tune I mention is about the muddled aftermath of an unsatisfying breakup, which comes with the saddening realization that a painful separation was the healthiest move for everyone involved. McAlpine documents how a consequential part of you still yearns and wants to reach out to the other person.
You walk past the places you had treasured memories with that special person, which are can never be replicated and only live in small snapshots of a much bigger picture. You think of new endeavors you could be doing with them instead of being alone. The following devastating lines really sell this melancholic song to me in their solemnity and plainness of such grounding sensations.
"Want to move on and I'm trying to
But when the bombs hit, I look at you"
"I know this is right and I know that it's sad,
Want you to want me again like that
I like the way it feels to not be anybody's fool"
You might still have a soft spot for this failed endeavor and desire them to carry on their feelings for you, perhaps even being hesitant to get over your intense attraction to them and wanting to run right back at the first sign of trouble.
At the same time, you will have exciting adventures with someone who will better understand you on an emotional level, and that is perfectly okay because this eventual progress is genuinely what is most healing for you. You know you will find a partner who doesn’t make you act like Carrie Bradshaw showing up on the doorstep of Mr. Big with a top hat on, desperately searching for romantic affirmation and making you feel like your love for them is embarrassing.
You are a complete and whole being by yourself. Appreciate that independence and don’t push down what you are going through.
“Ugly Things“
As for the second song, I viscerally understand the awful feeling of seeing someone you love and care so much about act in an uncorrelated manner that is unbecoming of their character, as McAlpine describes here in poignant and striking lyrics.
"All the ugly things will come back around
Wish they made me not love you
Wish they made you love me too"
"Watching you move from a distance
Coming back to a lonely existence"
It is incredibly hard to witness a close friend making a fool of themselves on social media in trying to look “cool,” only seemingly like a self-centered and attention-seeking ass in reality. You are witnessing in real time them develop this flimsy facade is totally disparate from their already wonderful personality that did not need to change in the first place, seeing them behave in a weird way that is not like the amazing version of them you know so well at all.
You watch their bad habits and lurking insecurities unfold, with you being incapable of doing anything helpful and still holding onto that lingering affection despite their unhealthy tendencies.
You know that this individual has to figure things out on their own, as that hurtful but necessary distance between the two of you grows further. You possibly made big plans with them that might never come to fruition now, road trips not embarked upon, parties not attended together. You miss the secret language you used to speak with them effortlessly and the assorted trinkets decorating your room serving as souvenirs of the good times shared.
You wish that you did not hold these passionate sentiments towards this particular person, knowing letting go would be the best for you personally in moving on, but these strong feelings come and go in time. They are for me and they will be for you too.
One Movie:
I have always found suggesting a documentary to someone an incredibly hard sell. My friends constantly come to me whenever looking for a new film, trusting my cultivated recommendations. I have maintained a constantly updating favorite movies list since I started college, containing almost 200 flicks now. My end goal is to add one for every day of a whole year.
But I sense as though people I know are among my social circle frequently turned off by this divisive genre, finding these educational pictures too boring or drawn out to be enjoyable to watch, not getting to the overarching thesis or entire point of the piece quickly enough.
I am about to frustrate that demographic tremendously, with the selection of this week being “Baraka,” a non-narrative documentary that features no dialogue or plot. It is simply a total feast for the eyes as audience members are taken on a beautiful globe-trotting journey around some of the mystical and naturally stunning locales in the world.
The best way to describe the project is that it feels the same way as the immersive experience of playing a late ’90s or early aughts point-and-click adventure game, like “The Longest Journey” or “Myst.”
You have to make up a personal tale for yourself instead of the story beats simply being handed over to you. You must find reason and significance behind why all of these striking images are paralleled with one another.
You have to figure out the interlocking puzzle with the miscellaneous pieces provided to you; picking out the clues from moving scenes of people celebrating in the Amazon rainforest and African savanna, to the desolate violence of volcanoes erupting and manmade oil fields burning, directly juxtaposed with each other.
I was also heavily reminded of my childhood playing the first few entries in the “Assassin’s Creed” series, climbing around on city rooftops and exploring legendary historical places.
There are countless parts I could unpack here ad nauseam. From the emanating loneliness of Japanese society with everyone plugged into technology and failing to notice their equally isolated peers around them, to people bathing in India with a grand scene shot in the fashion of an old Hollywood epic, a new aspect of humanity lies around the corner waiting to be discovered.
The imagery of “Baraka“
Among the evocative imagery includes Brazilian homes stacked together like a massively complex beehive with countless families dancing to the beat of their own drum inside.
Obscured individuals adhere to ancient traditions and make a devotional pilgrimage to Mecca en masse to feel something I will never know.
Laborers endlessly working in cigarette factories in Indonesia while others live in the lap of luxury half a world away.
Baby chicks being prepared for our consumption and not knowing the cozy feeling the welcoming warmth of the sun on their backs.
Sex workers with a full face of bright makeup and silk robes waiting to serve their next client.
The collected skulls of those murdered in the Holocaust and the desolate reminders of the concentration camps with their ghostly halls.
A striking eclipse that every single member of our species can look up at the sky and see once in a blue moon.
The thousands-of-years old structures still persisting and showcasing we have always been here, for better or worse.
There is just an intrinsic part of humanity that wants to gather and be together in spite of the natural destruction happening in our own backyards and caused by us, as we are continuously exploited and struggle to survive, no matter if you live in the Kowloon Walled City or next to Notre Dame.
You can watch “Baraka” for free on Tubi, and I recommend it for its harrowing yet breathtaking imagery. It can remind viewers of the inherent dichotomy constantly at play in life.
One Slice of Life: Trials and Tattoos
One thing about me is that I loathe crowds with a burning passion. There is just something about a massive public space with a copious amount of unpredictable people gathered that quickly overwhelms me.
The blaring noises and constant distractions that cause me to not understand or hear my friends frustrates me extremely. No one in my party is able to focus on a single thing. The supposed-to-be special experience of spending time with my friends becomes less intimate in the process.
What also drives me up the wall is how several individuals do not seem to practice personal space, whether intentionally or not. It comes across as inconsiderate, believing they are the cool protagonists of a grand epic story with no thought towards those around them whatsoever. The fact I am not aware of any of their intentions or what they will do next does not help either to quell this recurring worry of mine.
There has been a real epidemic impacting society as of late, with communal events turning so stand-offish as guarded cliques form and acting with only their specific needs in mind, not taking account basic manners like can everyone behind me see the stage or am I being too loud at the movie theater.
However, I also hold onto this huge contradiction. That despite the saddening way in which these superficial interactions never make me feel closer to my loved ones and usually end up provoking unnecessary tension, I have this consistent reliance of still craving a nearby individual to rely and fall back on in such populated environments like a security blanket.
It is a strange discrepancy to me, since I truly value and treasure my independence, when there is an inconsistent battle happening in my head.
When I first started going to UWM, unless I had headphones on and could drown out my busy surroundings through curated tunes, even walking through the student union used to put me on edge. I would worry about who would see me or who I might run into that I was trying to avoid.
What if my outfit only consisted of sweats that day, or I wasn’t wearing makeup? Looking back on this notion now, this stressful sentiment comes across as incredibly silly and probably ruined several ventures for me in retrospect, but this underlying uneasiness was honestly a plaguing fear for too many years.
A couple of summers ago, I remember an awful occasion where this irritating concern of mine jumped out. My friends and I were set to see the love of my life, Megan Thee Stallion, racing through the crowded festival grounds to have a blast at her show-stopping performance.
While we ended up having a good time, the infuriating journey to get there brought out the worst in me. Everyone was already sort of having a bad start to begin with, as one of our party members was going through difficult romance drama and another was incredibly awkward in social settings, both feeling out of place and never having been in a demanding situation like this before.
I did not help the uncomfortable dynamic in the slightest by becoming touchy, constantly complaining about the long lines to get in. I was behaving like a helicopter parent in bossing the unsure group around trying to find the right seats.
Simply put, I was insufferable! I was straight up not fun and miserable, ruining the entire vibe. I did not like myself acting in this controlling way, being taut and tense over minor issues, especially when everything clicked ultimately. As someone who is typically content with herself, this emerging trait did not seem like the Piper I know and love.
I had to change, not only for me, but for my loved ones, so as to not add insult to injury and stress them out more.
I decided to challenge myself this past week and go outside my comfort zone, to start conquering this detrimental anxiety of mine, as a small part of my ongoing journey to feel in tune with myself. My friend Ella and I were supposed to attend a tattoo convention in town together, but she sadly had to cancel, with babysitting duties calling (shout out to her for being responsible and getting that bag).
Rather than throw in the towel and give up on the cool opportunity, I went alone! In a massive room full of strange characters and a constant stream of overstimulating intrusions, I got a new tattoo of a rose and sword interlacing. I went entirely by myself, now having a physical representation on my body that I can take on pressing social situations that are normally nerve-wracking for me solo and not have the unhealthy desire to have someone else there to retreat towards.
I noticed some stares might have lingered on me for far too long. I was also determined to finish a journalism assignment, killing two birds with one stone, going up to new people and interviewing them, which earned a few eyebrows and questioning glances.
I had to take photos for the upcoming article as well, hitting some truly awkward poses that must have been a sight to see, crouching down and twisting every which way. But I was never going to see any of these onlooking individuals again and who wholeheartedly cares what they think?
I was just doing me and having a great time, even if my bank account took a bit of a blow.
To get to the point of this section, I want to challenge anyone reading to go outside their comfort zones this next week, to achieve an important goal that has been on the back burner.
Do something you are genuinely proud of, like going into an overwhelming public space alone or making a new friend out in the wild, and do not look back! Exist how you want in a social setting, without anyone else stopping you, including that nagging voice in your head that is only going to stop you from new adventures and drag you down.