I’ve spent most of my life in the City of Angels, a.k.a Los Angeles, California, a.k.a Tinseltown, U.S.A. If you’re here for any length of time, chances are good you’ll become acquainted with the Hollywood Sign.
The sign is visible from all sorts of corners, defying typical geography standards. It pops up as you curve along a busy street, you find it sitting within the sunset’s orange glow or you unconsciously nod hello to it as you cross the 10 freeway. I’ve grown accustomed to the sign’s familiar haunts, but the other day I was struck by its sudden presence in a residential neighborhood. It was early in the morning and the sign loomed large, causing me to draw in my breath. I felt up close and personal, aware not only of the sign but also the earth it rests on. At that moment I realized how these 9 letters overshadow an entire mountain.
We don’t pay attention to Mount Lee, the seat of the sign. It’s just another compression in the earth’s crust. The mountain range it belongs to has a very casual presence in Los Angeles. To remark “oh look at the Santa Monica Mountains!” would be very odd, but no one would blink if you pointed out the Hollywood Sign.
Ever since that fateful encounter, I’ve begun to feel increasingly appalled by the Hollywood Sign. What’s its deal? Where did it get this self importance? It’s just a label. These blocky white letters portion off a small section of a grand natural landmark with an arbitrary description. Sure, the sign overlooks Hollywood—but the mountain range is so much more. The mountains frame our city, their sloping silhouette a constant against Los Angeles’ bleach blue sky.
Rather than celebrating the enigmatic mountains, we praise the (relatively) small man made sign.
This tendency to label things is one of our greatest follies. Really, we’re lucky to have the Hollywood Sign—it reveals the true absurdity in our compulsive need to label. We can mask it as an attempt at understanding, but more often than not we fall into the trap of conjecture. Create a few titles, glue a few pieces together and call it a full picture.
The Hollywood Sign creates the illusion of familiarity. But it sits atop something so vast, its presence is actually comical. How can we expect to grasp a mountain?
Once a label is affixed, we see it all the time. The mind deepens neural pathways towards the simplified label, out of habit. That which is labeled becomes recognizable, even if we aren’t deeply seeing. The truth is, the more we dole out labels, the more we have to juggle in our minds. Suddenly we are working overtime to keep all the labels in line. We scramble to parse one from another to uphold the phantom of separation.
Mount Lee cannot shake those letters loose. I won’t be climbing up there to take them down, so I suppose they’ll stay put. That being said, the mountain probably doesn’t care. It has been here long before us and will be here long after.
Why get upset over a set of temporary circumstances? The mountain doesn’t worry about someone mistaking it for Hollywood. If that happens, the misunderstanding is not Mount Lee’s burden to bear. We either accept what others try to put upon us and struggle under the weight of false perceptions, or we choose to be free of any construct. As my favorite quote of all time goes: the Tao that can be defined is not the true Tao.
I guess Tinseltown still has a bit more wisdom up her sleeve.
That’s all for today!
But before you go, a quick announcement: things have been changing at Now is Good HQ—because of new developments I will be focusing solely on the Wednesday dispatch. I’ve removed all paying subscribers, but if you’d like to subscribe to simply support me and this work, that is entirely welcome and deeply appreciated.
I’ve unlocked all posts that were previously behind a paywall. If you’d like to check them out, here’s a few of my favorites.
Grounding Ceremony - an audio meditation in which we utilize small but intentional physical movement to connect with the earth
Focus on Flow - an audio meditation acknowledging the state of flow that occurs when we trust in ease
Looking Around - striking the balance between big picture visions while focusing on the next step ahead
Steam Ceremony - quick ritual to activate desires and release into the world
Personal Bubble - reusable rubric to check on your boundaries
Thank you for being along for the ride!
xx
James