As I thought about this week’s Teach and Serve, the music I was considering for the soundtrack of this year was pushed from my mind as recent music filled my ears and my heart: the music from, perhaps you guessed it, a Star Trek episode.
I have been a Star Trek fan for almost as long as I can recall.
The “origin story” of my Star Trek fandom involves an overpopulated school system, broadcast television, and a good friend.
When I was in kindergarten, the public school district in which my family lived was overwhelmed by a suburban Denver population boom. As I remember (my memory is hazy – I was in kindergarten, afterall), I had afternoons off from school as did my neighbor, Scott, who was in middle school. Scott was (and still is) a great guy and on those school day afternoons, he and I would get a snack, sit down in the living room, and watch Star Trek reruns on Denver’s Channel 2.
It is no overstatement to write that I thrilled to the adventures of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and the rest of the Enterprise crew. It is equally true to note that, while I am a fan of all kinds of pop culture from comic books to Star Wars and everything in between, Star Trek is my first, best destiny. I am forever a Trekker.
In early August, I normally publish a soundtrack for the upcoming school year. This fall, however, I am in the midst of a exciting time, one like I have never experienced in my adult life: I am between comissions. Having decided to depart my prior posting (I am aware I am too deep in naval metaphor… I will stop!), I am exploring what to do next.
As I thought about this week’s Teach and Serve, the music I was considering for the soundtrack of this year was pushed from my mind as recent music filled my ears and my heart: the music from, perhaps you guessed it, a Star Trek episode.
In a first for the franchise, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds mounted a musical episode called “Subspace Rhapsody.” I found it absolutely delightful.
More than that, I found messages in almost every song that spoke directly to me. The soundtrack of this year and this part of my life is comprised of these lyrics and songs.
The littlest things
Can mean everything
In being authentically you
Connect to your truth
It might be time to change my paradigm
If only I can let go of the wheel
My fear replaced with total faith
I’m fiercely free and really real
Flying blind
How would that feel?
No one can keep you small
Be bulletproof and ten feet tall.
The sky is the limit my future is infinite
My possibilities are endless
I’m ready
We work better all together
We overcome our obstacles as one
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Subspace Rhapsody” is so worth an hour of your time!