Matt and Kim: Heroes of New Sincerity

Okay, so there's this phenomenon known as "New Sincerity."

Basically, New Sincerity thumbs its nose at postmodern cynicism. It's an oversimplified explanation, but it'll do. Most notably, New Sincerity has been linked to Jesse Thorn's show The Sound of Young America. Heroes of the New Sincerity include Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Shaq.

I went to see the band Matt and Kim last night, and walked away believing that they, too, could be considered Heroes of the New Sincerity. Two musicians from Brooklyn, Matt and Kim seemed to be having the time of their lives as they danced, handclapped, and crowd surfed their way through their hour-long set.

If you've heard the Bacardi ad that features the song 'Daylight,' you've heard Matt and Kim. And though their second album is way more polished than their first, the song clip in the ad gives you the basic idea of who they are.

The set was tight and featured a ton of songs while, at the same time, making room for banter that rivals that of Banter Queens Tegan and Sara. Highlights included the aforementioned Daylight as well as Kim singing on Lessons Learned, a song they debuted at last night's show.

The band seemed genuinely overwhelmed that they had such a large crowd (300+) show up for the show. They made every effort to keep it clean for the kidlets in the audience (as an aside: who takes elementary aged kids to an all-ages show on a school night? Matt and Kim didn't even go on until 10!) and they put themselves on risers on the stage so that people in the back of the club could see them.

The show ended with an impromptu dance party and the band sticking around to take pictures with the horde of starstruck fans.

At first, I couldn't imagine that Matt and Kim were sincere. They were so...happy. And energetic. I was sure this was an indie rock joke that I just didn't get. I was sure that they were jaded hipsters who would reveal their true selves before the set was over. The thing is, as the set went on I grew more confident that they really were sincere. They just really love playing music and they love the fans who come to their show.

So, in conclusion, Matt and Kim are awesome. And heroes of the New Sincerity.

Flipping the script

One of my friends is feeling frustrated about something in her life. She is feeling this intense feeling of being stuck in a situation that she doesn't like and isn't sure how to change it.

Before we go any further, this isn't one of those stories where "My friend is" is actually code for "I am."

She wrote an email to a group of her friends that laid out all of things about this situation that frustrate her. Then she wrote another email that flipped the script, so to speak, and set out some short term (1-2 years) and long term (2-4 years) goals as well as what she ultimately wanted the situation to look like.

I was struck by how simple this re-framing was and yet how brilliant.

How often do I feel like a situation is both sucktastic and beyond my control? A lot. How often do I see how a situation can be changed and what I can do to change it? Not often.

As a related matter, in a meeting yesterday, a colleague spoke at length about "outcomes assessment" in which she discussed the concept of writing outcomes.

Outcomes, she stated, are desired changes in behavior, attitude, or skills.

The formula she presented for writing an outcome:

Verb/action phrase + "in order to" + Why = Outcome

An example:
Complete couch to 5K program in order to successfully run 3 miles.

So what do these two ideas have to do with one another?

I sometimes feel like I choose to believe that a situation is beyond my control instead of looking for ways I can change it. The next time I feel frustrated at how stuck I feel, I need to stop and consider what I want the situation to ultimately look like (using my handy-dandy outcome-writing skill) and then set short and long-term goals to get from where I am now to where I want to be.

What do you wish was different? How can you work to change it?