Friendship & Flight

 

At first, I was kind of hesitant about making videos where I put myself out there, without any persona or shield between me and my art, but it’s actually been really fun. And way more liberating than I expected. Initially I thought it was so far outside my comfort zone that I debated whether I should even give it a try. I’m very comfortable making atmospheric video-collages and writing free verse poetry with mythological themes, but less so talking directly to a camera as myself. But I’ve come to realise that I don’t need to worry so much. The things I make are never going to be perfect, nor do they need to be.

All I really want is to find new and interesting ways to express myself, to satisfy that creative impulse and have fun doing it. I guess trying new things is healthy sometimes, and surprisingly rewarding. It triggers growth, gratitude, and enjoyment of the present moment. We all get this intellectually, I suppose, but we don’t feel it emotionally nearly as often as we should. So yeah, I’m making these videos on my new YouTube channel mostly for myself. Also for the handful of people who might be paying attention and who hopefully find them interesting in some way.

I’m someone who believes deeply in art, creativity and self-care, but I’ve spent a lot of time holding my tongue and just keeping my thoughts to myself. I guess I’ve decided to change all that. I’m not nearly as existential as I used to be. I kind of roll with the punches and go with the flow these days, and I’ve got to say – it’s incredibly freeing! Hopefully you can sense my delight in these videos as I get more comfortable talking in front of a camera. I just want to post more stuff and talk about things that genuinely fascinate me. Things that move my heart. That includes art, philosophy and religion. But also down-to-earth stuff like books that I enjoy, movies I love, and albums that have had a big impact on me.

These coming posts over on The Oldest Magic and here at Amid Night Suns – they might not change the world or anything, but I just want to share the real me a bit more with those who might be interested. I don’t want to come across as some distant mythological entity, a wannabe auteur with illusions of grandeur and no sense of humour. I’m just a guy who loves history, art, and stories. I really don’t take myself too seriously in my personal life. Like I said before, I’ll be cross-posting most of these front-facing videos here, so there’s no need to worry about subscribing. I’ll still post my usual video-collages and more esoteric written pieces, of course, but the scope of my real interests is far broader, and I want the blog to reflect that.

Hopefully this new chapter of Amid Night Suns will be engaging and resonant for you in some way. It’s definitely been liberating and fun for me! So, in that spirit, here’s a video that’s basically a review of a favourite movie of mine: 2019’s The Aeronauts. It’s a film that didn’t make much of an impact commercially, but it moved me a great deal. I still enjoy rewatching it. In the video I discuss some of its deeper themes, and I explore storytelling more generally. Warning: there are major spoilers for the story though, so proceed with caution if you haven’t seen it yet but intend to! Wishing you all the best, and with love, Raj.