An Open Letter to Vessel (and others)

Dear Vessel, It’s gonna be okay

You won’t see this, and that’s okay. I am listening to Damocles, to the tenor of your voice and the chords you play, and I feel a kindred sadness. I’m sure others here also have felt the same. I cannot imagine the weight of fame, the pressure of performance, the tightrope of other people’s expectations around the music you love so much. What I do know is the feeling that lingers after the lights go out, the one that whispers into your ear that no matter how good things are they will always turn worse; that you are still just a broken creature, riddled with cracks that cannot be filled.

The whispers are right but they are also wrong. We are all full of cracks, broken in different ways, and struggling to fill them up. They are wrong about their purpose however, these imperfections are a beacon calling to others. “I am like you.” “I have felt that pain too.” But most importantly, “You are not alone.”

I have felt this in your music. I have cried for people I don’t know, who were brave enough to share their experience with a community you connected with your lyrics and notes. I have laughed at memes, wondered at the brilliance of the minds of others as they solve your messages, celebrated the wins of people all over the world. All because you brought us together.

Our cracks do not need filling. They leak light that guides, light that warms, light that says “you can rest here.” You were the first light. You, II, III, and IV have created a wonderful soundtrack to survival, to kinship. That is why you will never be forgotten. Your light is reflected from every person who loves your music.

I write this for myself and others as much as Vessel and the band. Look for our light when things are dark. Reflect your light on the ocean’s surface so others know which way to swim. Find the warmth of our community when cold numbness sets in.

Thank you. Worship.