A Brief History of Becoming

The Interstellar piece feels like it tells the evolutionary trajectories of two different species through two distinct movements.

The first movement is shorter than the second. It portrays a species whose entire lifecycle comes and goes almost in an instant. You barely have time to register what you're witnessing before it's gone. We don't get to learn how this species began - the inception story is lost because we're seeing everything from a distance, from a bird's eye view.

There are moments when this species seems to progress toward enlightenment, giving a sense of hope for their survival. But that hope doesn't last. The build to crescendo probably wasn't what those experiencing it expected at the time.

At 3:00, everything collapses. All progress is reduced to dust.

But from that dust, the second movement emerges. The raspy flick of guitar strings signals the earliest stirrings among primordial elements. Unlike the first species, this inception story is not lost to us. We witness the slow build heralded by wind instruments.

The drums are progressive, steady. The raspy guitar flicks continue, suggesting something significant is developing. Then it becomes clear that the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.

There's an explosion of sound. Light. Expanse. We sense untold possibilities and infinite hope. This is the future taking shape.

As the music settles, we realize that hard work is the only path to success. There are no shortcuts. The flutes call us to action, and we enter the fold.

The arena is unforgiving, but we fight because survival depends on it. Early success is not something to rest upon. We've made it this far, but there are still many places we need to go.

The strong cello underscores this journey. We endure conflict because there's no escaping the paths we must traverse just to survive. At this point, anything beyond mere survival seems like a distant concern.

We enter the depths of conflict - dark times, make-or-break moments. The outcome isn't predetermined; who will prevail remains unknown.

This second lifecycle is so much greater than what came before, yet it's built upon those earlier foundations. Lessons learned.