I feel compelled to share with you, my blog readers, my purposes in life. I have two songs which define me. Actually, there are MANY, many more, but these two resonate so completely that I feel they were written by my subconscious or something. They are like my personal mission statements in life.
The first is from Garth Brooks. Now, if you know me, you know that I pretty much abhor country music. Pretty much. There are artists out there that I'll listen to a lot, Garth is one of them because I think he has an excellent voice. And I'm one of the minority who thinks his "Chris Gaines" project that bombed was awesome. But I digress. Here's the song. This is my professional purpose in life. I discovered this while working at Norman County East about 9 years ago, maybe even 10, when I was struggling in that community that treated my EBD kids as second class citizens and thought I was crazy for the work I did -for the dedication I had. This is why I'm dedicated and why I continue to be dedicated to this field I'm in:
"The Change"
One hand
Reaches out
And pulls a lost soul from harm
While a thousand more go unspoken for
They say what good have you done
By saving just this one
It's like whispering a prayer
In the fury of a storm
And I hear them saying you'll never change things
And no matter what you do it's still the same thing
But it's not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world will know
That it will not change me
This heart
Still believes
The love and mercy still exist
While all the hatred rage and so many say
That love is all but pointless in madness such as this
It's like trying to stop a fire
With the moisture from a kiss
And I hear them saying you'll never change things
And no matter what you do it's still the same thing
But it's not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world will know
That it will not change me
As long as one heart still holds on
Then hope is never really gone
I hear them saying you'll never change things
And no matter what you do it's still the same thing
But it's not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world we know
Never changes me
What I do is so
This world will know
That it will not change me
Now, that being said, there's another song which is a popular one and one that many people choose as inspirational. To me though, I also feel this was written by my subconscious, though I did not realize it until long after it had been popular. I heard it one day on the radio and I was finally in a spot in my life where I could really actually LISTEN to the lyrics. Every single thing in this song is true as well. This is the rest of me, by Whitney Houston:
"Greatest Love Of All"
I believe the children are our are future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be
Everybody searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone to fulfill my needs
A lonely place to be
So I learned to depend on me
[Chorus:]
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all
I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be
[Chorus]
And if by chance, that special place
That you've been dreaming of
Leads you to a lonely place
Find your strength in love
Now, my faithful blogger reader, these songs might seem trite to you, but to me, they aren't. So there, in two songs, is me. If you know me, you know that much of my life revolves around music -that's why I spend so much time driving and listening to the radio when I need time away to think. It's not just the lyrics either, it's the entire experience of the song -the melody, tone, texture of the different instruments, the arrangement, the vocal quality of the singer's voice (a BIG component, actually). It all creates colors and combined with lyrics, meshes everything into emotion and feeling. Weird, huh? Maybe not. I'm sure there are people out there who could "get" that. It's cool when I find them because I definitely don't talk about it much because most people think I'm weird, but at this point in my life, I don't really care. :-)
You know Maslow's hierarchy of needs? The last one is "self-actualization". I've gotten there -and so much so that I understand that self-actualization is realizing that that stage is not static -one moves fluidly between the levels depending on circumstance, but if one is truly self-actualized, they have the ability to get back to that level. I wish for everyone to get to that place. It takes work and it takes a lot of courage. It also takes a letting go of pre-conceived notions and old paradigms we've been taught to follow. It takes a thinking and a sorting out of things for our self and the courage to be able to break out on our own to advocate for ourselves.
Speaking of breaking out and away, here's another one...Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway". Someone knew me when I was younger and wrote this song about me. It's been relevant at about every major transition in my life so far:
"Breakaway"
Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray (I would pray)
Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I prayed I could break away
[Chorus:]
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jet plane, far away (I will)
And breakaway
[Chorus]
Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging around revolving doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but
Gotta keep moving on, moving on
Fly away, breakaway
I'll spread my wings
And I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway
Ok, that's it. I completely used up an entire page I'm sure -and I feel sort of junior-high-ish for posting song lyrics...how weird huh? Oh well!! Thanks for reading. I really truly appreciate it. I have a lot to say and I wish more people would listen. :-)
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