Omer Mixtape — Week 4
Kabbalah theme: Netzach//endurance + ambition
Music theme: Meet me at…Midnights (3am Edition) by Taylor Swift
22. Chesed within Netzach: patient, kind ambition — Lavender Haze
23. Gevurah: disciplined endurance — Karma
24. Tiferet: balanced, compassionate ambition — Mastermind
25. Netzach: half-way point, double endurance — You’re On Your Own, Kid
26. Hod: humble endurance — Anti-Hero
27. Yesod: ambitious, goal-driven bonding — The Great War
28. Malkhut: dignified, noble ambitions — Bejeweled
First things first — if you are a Swiftie, please go back and read through week three to find the easter eggs I put there to hint that this week would be Swift themed. ;)
I was going to make this “Swift week” more inclusively, and use songs from her whole discography, but decided against it for a few reasons. First of all, I wanted to use songs that are obviously (or not necessarily) about a romantic relationship. Second, she has a huge discography, overflowing with lyrics and sentiments, so a focus made more sense. Third of all, honestly, this album feels to me the perfect epitomized example of how Taylor Swift has used endurance and ambition to get her to where she is today. Midnights, as an album, truly showcases her growth, self-awareness, and renewed sense of self after decades of success amidst endless attacks against her character (which has needed this growth; we all do) and talent (which is endless and unparalleled). At the moment, it’s my favorite of her albums, and her eras — because it’s honest, open, and of course full of bops.
Day 22 — Today is Chesed within Netzach, which is about patient, kind ambition. It’s about channeling patience and kindness as guides for your ambition, and working towards goals through the lens of loving-kindness. Today’s song, Lavender Haze, is about focusing on the love you have with someone intimately, rather than all of the outside opinions and pressures. Taylor wants to stay in the lavender haze, rather than lift the cloud and fully enter reality. The goal, though, is to grow your relationship with your partner, to focus on the personal + interpersonal ambitions of you and your close relationships, rather than a narrative that’s beyond you.
Day 23 — The day of strength, Gevurah, this week is about disciplined endurance. You need to be disciplined in maintaining endurance, knowing that if you endure you will make it through. My favorite song on the album (not including the bonus tracks), Karma, was perfect for today. It’s arguably the thesis-statement song of the album, although you could make the case for tomorrow’s song as well. In any case, this song is perfect, to me, because it has layers of depth and is also incredibly catchy, and silly. It’s also, in content, about coming out on top, maintaining endurance, through years of trials and tribulations. The bridge sums it up perfectly, “Ask me why so many fade, but I’m still here…”
Day 24 — The day of Tiferet for this week is focused on balanced, compassionate ambition. You cannot be ambitious without balancing your other traits, maintaining a healthy sense of self, and considering others. This song, Mastermind, is about how Taylor Swift is a genius who has thought everything through, ten steps ahead of the game, all the time. Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it doesn’t matter — the point is that this song is about using your ambition to develop relationships and bring others along with you. Again, a masterful bridge by Swift, sums up the point perfectly, “I’m only cryptic and machiavellian cause I caaaaaare…”
Day 25 — Today is the half-way point of the Omer, since it’s a total of 50 days when you include Shavot itself. Today, fittingly, has the mystical focus of double endurance — focusing on the effort and holding fast to get through. I am appreciative of marking this halfway point in this way, because spiritual accounting is definitely hard work. Thinking about each of these songs and spiritual themes each day is incredibly impactful, and it’s a challenge. The fifth track on a Swift album is typically known by Swifties as most emotional or hardest-hitting, and You’re On Your Own, Kid, in my humble opinion, succeeds more than any other 5th track, to be relatable and hard-hitting to the core. (The core of my being, I mean, and perhaps the core of most millennials who grew up alongside Swift). It’s about realizing that each person has to figure things out for themselves, that we need to create and achieve our own ideals, rather than trying to be or become someone for the sake of others. Focus on your personal development, on your friendships, the relationships that support and carry you through. I suppose another trend this week will also be to end with a quote from the song’s bridge, since they’re all iconic and fitting: “Make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it//You’ve got no reason to be afraid…”
Day 26 — Today is for humble endurance, which is a tough topic to find a song about honestly. Not that many successful artists are willing to put their humility into their music, especially when the reverse is revered and desired. We want to listen to music and feel lifted up by it, and I would argue we want to hear ourselves reflected in the music; sometimes we want it to be unbelievably relatable. For some reason, I associate humble endurance with this idea — the vulnerability of admitting humility while on the path to greatness. For TSwift, this is not a topic she shies away from, especially on Midnights. The big first single, Anti-Hero, is a testament to humble endurance, and to this idea of being highly relatable while also feeling leagues away. I’m hoping this song is well-known enough that I don’t need to quote or explain it too much; the idea of admitting that you are the problem in your own life, that you need to face yourself to continue moving forward, that’s why this song fits today. “It’s me…hi…I’m the problem, it’s me.”
Day 27 — Today, Yesod, is about ambitious, goal-driven bonding. Can you bond through your ambition, can you identify common goals and use those to forge connections with someone else? It sparks the thought process of how to use goals, and how to use them to forge meaningful connections with others. Today’s song is the only 3am bonus track on the Omer count; The Great War is such an interesting, complex concept. For Swift, (and in my interpretation), it’s about the fighting and battles you face with a partner that come from past trauma + baggage, rather than from within the partnership. For me, it’s about that as well as the broader idea, that it can be easier to fight, to be incredibly vicious, within the safe space of unconditional love. It fits today’s theme because it’s about the work you have to do, together, to move through the great war and get to peace on the other side. Rather than quote the bridge, I’ll quote the last chorus — because in Swiftian fashion, she changes it up at the end: “Uh-huh, we’re burned for better/I vowed I would always be yours/’cause we survived the great war.”
Day 28 — We come to the end of the week, ending on a high note of course. Today, Malkhut, is about dignified, noble ambitions. Having ambition for the sake of a noble cause, or maintaining dignity through the journey towards goals — either or both interpretation feels fitting. Another one of my favorite tracks from the album, Bejeweled, is perfect for today, especially when you incorporate the music video story (and easter eggs), and all of the culture that has sprung from this song. Let me explain: if you’re not on TikTok, you’re missing out. But seriously, a fan on TikTok made up a silly, easy, fun dance to this song — and now Ms. Swift does that dance as part of her tour choreography. I literally cried the first time I explained that to someone. She is one of the most famous and successful people of all time, and she still interacts with fans and utilizes their content. (I might even be crying while I write this, honestly.) The music video tells the story of a girl who wins a talent contest and chooses to live alone in her castle as her prize, rather than marry the prince. The song itself, lyrically, is about continuing to shine bright — perhaps brighter than ever — after being dusted up and dirtied by others. Taking all of that together into consideration, this song is about maintaining dignity and nobility, through anything — and this is queen behavior. As she sings, “And you can try, to change my mind/but you might have to wait in line/what’s a girl gonna do?/A diamond’s gotta shiiiiine.”
[Apparently I no longer have the photos I took when I saw her on the Reputation Tour in 2018. Shout out to my dad, also a Swiftie, for coming with me — and for bright spot in the worst summer on record. I wanted to mention this, to say, that Taylor Swift and her music have been there for me, and many many many others, through the worst and best times of our lives. So many of her songs are about heartbreak, which is a universal experience regardless of how many romantic experiences/break-ups you’ve had. If you were not already a fan, I hope you take some time to listen to her, and I hope you now understand a bit better why so many people love her so much, and why I easily devoted a whole week of the Omer to Midnights.]
