Mike Manewitz

Cathexis

I’ve spent the majority of the last five years immersed in live music. Now, it’s not really a thing. My friends are all trying to figure out what their lives are going to look like going forward. Live music probably won’t ever be the same, but I’m grateful for every sweaty night out over the last several years, mixing my friends’ shows in front of seas of smiling faces in the dark and taking photos of music that moved me in poorly lit clubs for 3-5 nights a week. I miss my friends, and staying connected to people has been a challenge because going out was when I saw everyone. Learning how to take care of my relationships has been the most sobering revelation. I’m growing, and I see everyone else growing, too.

I think something beautiful is going to come out of this, and it’s going to sneak up on us and clobber us over the head. In the future, it will seem obvious, but we’ll remember that in the dark times of spring 2020, the future was a giant, neon, blinking question mark, and we never would have ended up making something so beautiful if we hadn’t all gone through it together.

Also, I’m still not sold on livestreams.