Voodoo and Nashville

Living here and working in the place that I do, affords me a very interesting if not skewed perception of the south. National magazines and websites keep featuring this city. They call it the 'now' city of the south, it's the 'progressive' city of the south. Movie stars and bands are choosing Nashville as their hometown. Although Austin may be the live music capitol, Nashville is the city where those people sleep and eat and record. Many times the individuals featured in these profiles of Nashville are clients or neighbors to the studio, that I encounter on a daily basis. "huh so and so is in this GQ magazine...didn't realize they were doing this...our clients are so awesome!".

The past few years have been years of 'beginnings'. I've written a lot about how the city is blossoming and creation is everywhere, whether it's music, food or construction. I read an article the other day which listed Nashville in the top ten for successful small business start ups in the whole country. I feel Nashvillian's are extremely welcoming when it comes to all things new. New or revitalized neighborhoods, new restaurants, shops, bars, festivals, events.

I recently discussed with JR how people here seem to really be in to 'voodoo'. What I mean by that is folks are looking for something other than Jesus or traditional western medicine to heal their bodies and souls. And they are often looking even when those are the staples in their lives. I happen to know some of the local witch doctors that provide these services. I'm not really sure what I'm getting at here. It's an idea that has not become fully developed. But I'm just observing. I think it's somehow related to the welcoming atmosphere that Nashville provides and why so many businesses can open here, often with success. I think the mix between traditional southern hospitality and the progressive nature of the city, people are just very open to new things. That or they simply keep their opinions to themselves. The energy of this small city is perceptible. Without sounding too out there, I feel like this energy is a network between everyone. The city reacts all at once, changes day to day, season to season etc. Again these are underdeveloped ideas. Maybe it's because I working an environment where I am exposed to clients who make decisions to come in to the studio based on themselves, and when suddenly a bunch of people come in for the same reasons it's hard not to link together connections.

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I finally did the cleanse. It was a few weeks ago, it was definitely a reboot. It was very hard to down the ghee drink by day 3, and the castor oil effects were unpleasant. I think next year I need to commit to doing 5 days at least and definitely have it complete before the weather turns. Because I cleansed during the change in seasons and only for such a short amount of time, my body did not ease back in to my normal routine until much much later. So although my skin cleared and I felt lighter it could have been more successful.

While on the cleanse I powered through two books, rereading The Great Gatsby and Born to Run. I have to say Fitzgerald's writing is certainly pretty, but I generally got the feeling he was obsessed with his own wording and well, the story...I don't even really care that much. I do appreciate and respect it for what it is, don't get me wrong. McDougall's Born to Run is very Bill Brysonish in presentation and humor. It reads quickly and the reader will enjoy the subject matter because it is made to be understandable. Either way, it led me to purchasing a pair of Merrell Barefoot running shoes and one morning I got up and downloaded a podcast, then went for a run. This is quite possibly the most opposite thing I could have expected from myself. I also don't really like talking about it because I'm scared I'll jinx myself.

The switch in seasons is so welcome. I feel like cooking and baking and actually doing things. I feel like writing again. I have the notion of spending the next Sunday catching up on all my missing yelp reviews. I haven't spent enough time in the downtown library and it's big and open and air conditioned. Weather predictions put Middle Tennessee temps in the 100s this weekend. In the meantime I've been doing the rain dance. The river is so low and everything is dry and crisp despite the humidity.

The rest of my time I have spent wasting my life away on Pinterest. HOWEVER I have actually cooked recipes, completed some DIY projects and found some seriously cute online shops. So really I actually think it's created a more productive me. I will no longer make fun of pinteresters, and by default hipsters.

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