Pre-Conceived Notions - Some Thoughts On Mac Miller

I’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about Mac Miller.

It’s so interesting how events can have such an unexpected importance. How they can come crashing in before your defenses are up and all of a sudden you're reeling and gasping for air. Your hand shakes and you feel your heart try to catch up to the emotions flooding through you.

I hardly listened to Mac Miller before 2016. I knew of him, but just didn’t check him out. I pride myself with knowing a lot about music, but I am constantly missing out on artists. I have to play catch up sometimes, and end up discovering artists later on into their careers.

I had a very limited impression of Mac Miller – knowledge of maybe two songs – before The Divine Feminine came out. I remember listening and being very surprised. This was not what I was expecting from him, all because I let my perception guide how he was categorized in my head. I put him in a box, and came back and found he had completely dismantled that box and my notions along with it, and spun me on my head.

Something that I’ve found in recent years is how often I let those pre-conceived ideas dictate the ways in which I think about people, especially the artists that I adore and look up to. I had no idea that Mac Miller was only a year older than me. I had no idea that he struggled with drugs and alcohol. I let his success and elevated place in life influence how I thought of him, and that steered me away from thinking that he might not actually be doing alright.

But it’s not just him. It’s a far reaching and deep-rooted problem that hasn’t been addressed enough. I’ve seen it take the lives of people who have influenced my life in many ways. And it continues to be a shock, it continues to make my heart sink, all because I continue to let myself think in specific ways, even when they are clearly wrong.

Clearly a change is necessary. An adjustment; taking a step back and looking at ourselves and the judgments and assumptions we make and questioning their validity. It’s never easy, to make that kind of change. But it has to start somewhere. After these kinds of tragedies, I keep seeing tweets and posts about how we have to “check on each other”. While I appreciate that sentiment, it involves a lot more than saying it online. Actions speak a lot louder than words, and I can’t let my thoughts and words be it. Start anywhere. Reach out, ask your friends how they really are. I know this is exactly what I said above, but I want people to really grasp it and live it. Be conscious about your words and attitudes. Be intentional with your choices. And show love. Show compassion. People are in desperate need of it, in spite of and especially without always deserving it. The tremors that you can cause in other peoples’ paths are both a blessing and a curse. Think beyond today, think into tomorrow and next week and next year. Don’t let your assumptions stop you from asking that one friend if they’re good.

It makes my heart ache, thinking about these people we’ve lost. About the people that loved them, that adored them; the ones they left behind. About the lost potential, the good they could have continued to bring into the world, despite their demons. The way they helped people realized they aren’t alone in their struggles.

Rest in peace, Mac Miller, Malcolm James McCormick. I wish I could have been your friend, so I could have known you better, and could have been privy to the joy and wonder that your friends and colleague have been speaking of this last week. As John Mayer said, “I’m so sad you couldn’t stay, Mac.”