From the Outside Looking In

I cannot stop comparing myself to you
You just seem to have it all in all that you do
Your thoughts flow on paper like flowers in nature bloom
Sometimes, my emotions can get caught at sea
Swept away in the undertow, all of my hidden feelings
But you wear vulnerable so effortlessly
At least from the outside looking in, that’s just how it seems

If I could lay my guard down
would my heart come pouring out
into the words I couldn’t express until now
without being envious of you?

At one time, I needed a push to open the gate
to allow myself to translate the feelings in place
But from my viewpoint, it looks like you need none of that
And though I know nothing you go through, I can’t help but question who I am

If I could lay my guard down
would my heart come pouring out
into the words I couldn’t express until now
without being envious of you?

Artwork

The blurred Instagram feed and inverted image within the glass sphere are meant to express how when I’m using Instagram (or any social media platform), I’m seeing a distorted version of reality. The vertical lines on each side of the feed have a rough texture toward the center, and smooth out as they get further away from it. This is meant to represent how difficult it is for me to get away from the distorted reality of social media, and how the more I separate myself from it, the easier it becomes to stay away, making everything become recognizable again.

Full write-up of the meaning of From the Outside Looking In here: https://www.mikebassmusic.com/from-the-outside-looking-in-nft