The Creator
82,901 steps. A little over 40 miles. Somewhere around 16 hours. That's the furthest I've ever walked in a single day—one way—to get to school on time. Did I mention it was snowing? That last part was a joke. It was only raining.
No. Maybe any of that would have been more interesting.
Truth is, it was just a random Monday during the pandemic with nothing better to do.
I love walking, clearly. But that's not why we're here. You see, walking is simply what I'm doing in your world when I'm lost in mine. I do a lot of walking.
My name is David Kennedy. I'm Irish going back on my dad's side, and my mother is from Japan. I am born and raised in the plains of Ohio. I've had the fortunate pleasure of being out of place almost anywhere I go. A feeling I've learned that we all share, in our own ways.
But life needn't be a competition of uniqueness, I've learned.
What is greater still, is to take the things that make you think you're different, and use them to tell a story that lets us know we're all the same.
And in this way is the tragedy of life transcended with a kind of beauty that could not be possible, if not for its initial tragedy.
A Note on Calling
Men often look to the skies for the light of heaven, and to the great deep for the voice of God. But I've come to know—with a kind of knowing that goes beyond the mere possession of beliefs—that the Divine reveals himself in the subtleties of our own character and being; that the fullest expression of the Divine is to know thyself.
In other words, the meaning of your life isn't written on some billboard somewhere. It's not hidden behind that next chapter of self help, or next verse of scripture.
It's waiting to be found in all the little things that make you, you. A character so nuanced, that there could only ever be one.
Mr. Ecclesiastes
As a young child, the reality of my own mortality seemed to dawn on me much sooner than could be said of my classmates. The Latin phrase "memento mori" was with me as early as the second grade. A phrase I would often repeat to my younger brother, who would've been a measly 6 years old at the time. Poor kid.
If you come up in a Christian church in a small town, you know that every child has a favorite book of the bible. Naturally, I fell upon the Book of Ecclesiastes and was never the same. There was something about the way it put life in perspective. Or rather, something about the perspective it gave me on life.
In all, I've always been a bit of a deep thinker. A quality that's certainly worked to shape me over the years into the person I am today. At the very least, my penchant for introspection has been a catalyst for self discovery, whatever it is one might find.
Over the years, life has seldom ceased to captivate me in one form or the other. I have lived my life with a kind of zeal that often takes my interests deeper than they are wide. The longest-standing of which certainly being language and music; two recurring themes in my life's greatest work to date.
My adventures have taken me from the plains of Ohio, to the stage at Carnegie Hall. From the izakaya in Japan, to the mountains of Montenegro. I spend my days acquiring new languages, and writing music—contemplating life, and sharing my thoughts with the world. I lose myself in projects—learning to mix in Logic, or building iOS apps for the next generation of language learners.
The world can be ugly. But life is beautiful.
Parting Thoughts
I can offer you a list of accolades and disguise it as a bio. But rather, I encourage you to go beyond the words on this page and connect with something deeper that I have to offer.
I want to offer beauty back into a broken world. And there's a piece of me in every word.
Thank you for your time in getting to know me. I hope that my art can reach you in a way that returns the favor.
-David Kennedy