Somebody

"Somebody" by Lemonade Mouth Can you see me? Cause I'm right here Can you listen? Cause I've been trying to make you notice What it would mean to me To feel like somebody We've been on our way to nowhere Tryin so hard to get there

And I say [Chorus:] Oh! We're gonna let it show! We're gonna just let go of everything Holding back our dreams And try To make it come alive C'mon let it shine so they can see We were meant to be Somebody (Somebody) Somehow, Someday, Someway, Somebody I'm so tired Of being invisible But I feel it, yeah Like a fire below the surface Trying to set me free Burnin inside of me Cause were standing on the edge now It's a long way down [Chorus:] We will walk out of this darkness Feel the spotlight glowing like a yellow sun And when we fall we fall together Till we get back up and we will rise as one [Chorus:]

Enjoying the Music

"Every song ends, but is that any reason not to enjoy the music?"

The Music of Language

I believe that it goes without saying that I have a passion for writing. This blog is evidence of that. However, this is not my only passion; another that I have is for music - singing, playing, and listening. I must say that I have always been rather unsure just what it is about writing that makes it so enjoyable to me, yet I think I have finally figured it out. To me, when I write, it is almost as if I am creating a piece of music! I love to learn new forms of speech and language and to form sentences, paragraphs, essays, and papers that not only communicate something of interest or value, but are also arranged in such a way as to be pleasing to the ears. I love the sound of the written word read aloud. I love to read works written in an accent. I believe this idea explains one reason why I enjoy Jane Austen's works so much; I love the sound of her works and whenever I read one of them, I walk away feeling more intelligent and genteel.

Another interest of mine that connects to these, I believe, is my love of listening to people with foreign accents. It doesn't matter what they're saying or which accent they use - I just love hearing the sound of their speech. This similarly coincides with my love of people-watching. Actions are often said to speak louder than words. In this way, I greatly enjoy watching people around me. In doing so, I often learn much about them and what they would probably say, before they have uttered a single word.

Yet, going back to the original point, I find that it is absolutely true: the written word is like music to me, as is the spoken word. Speech that is intelligent, refined, and good-natured is the most pleasing kind of music to my ears. Contrastingly, speech that is harsh, angry, or polluted in terms of its grammatical usage is the least pleasing kind of music.

In the end, it is the meaning behind the words that is most critical. One must surely be careful not to be taken in by a graceful tongue that disguises deceitful speech. However, when the content is pure, there is something truly and, dare I say, magical about hearing it communicated in a truly fine manner.

With these thoughts in mind, I realize increasingly how important it is that I trim up my own language so that it is a pleasing kind of music and not a harsh sound or a clanging bong.

The First Words of a Story

"There's something delicious about writing the first words of a story...you can never quite tell where they'll take you."

- Miss Potter

Looking Back from the Future

Together with my brother, I watched "Meet Joe Black" tonight. I'm not sure I would be as quick to call it good as I would to call it intriguing. [Warning: Spoilers] As most movies do recently, this one raised questions in my mind. The most obvious question entered my mind when Joe told Bill that he would take him after the party the next day is "What would I do if I knew I was going to die tomorrow?". Though that question is truly important and can cause enough worthy contemplation by itself, another came to my mind which I found to be, if not more important, at least more applicable to me at this point in my life. That is: "When I die, what do I want to have done or been in my life?" I guess the more cliche way to phrase this question is "How do I want to be remembered?" I don't care for this phrasing as much, though, because I am not as concerned with how other people see me, as how I look at myself at the end of my life. As I head off to college this fall, my future has been very much on my mind. What do I want to do with my life? What career do I want to pursue? Which major should I pursue? These are questions that have haunted me consistently throughout the past month or so. I have come to no definite conclusions, but tonight as I considered the aforementioned question (in italics) and considered my life from a reverse angle, if you will, I was struck with several thoughts. Right now, I am so consumed with the little details and with how my decisions will appear to or affect other people. While these things are important, when I thought about what I wanted to see when I looked back on my life, I realized that I need to do whatever it is I am called to do. I need to be able to be content with my choices. I can't do what I think will make the most money or what I think looks best on my resume. If I do, when I look back on my deathbed, I will be full of regrets and discontentment. I want to live my life in such a way that, whenever God calls me home, I can look back and say that I had a good life and lived it to the fullest. I want to do something worthwhile with my life.

Delight in the Lord!

A friend on facebook posted this verse as her status and for some reason, it really struck me today. So I wanted to share it:

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." - Psalm 37:4

The Other Wes Moore

"The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his." In The Other Wes Moore, the author - Wes Moore - introduces his topic by telling his readers about a newspaper article he read in the Baltimore Sun in late 2000. The article was about an armed bank robbery that had resulted in a police officer's murder and a 12-day manhunt. All five perpetrators of the crime were apprehended and later, charged with first-degree felony murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. One of these criminals was also named Wes Moore. The author Wes became understandably curious about the man who shared his name and age and who had grown up in the same neighborhood, just a few blocks away, yet whose fate was so totally different than his own. Questions and emotions continued to haunt Wes about the man who was now in prison for life, while he became the recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and went on to study at Oxford University. What had separated himself from turning out like the other Wes Moore? Where had the other Wes Moore gone so astray to lead him to his current imprisonment? Where had he gone right to take him to where he was rather than in prison? These questions and more continued to go through Wes's mind until he did something rather unexpected - he wrote a letter to the other Wes Moore in prison and, a month later, received a reply. This was the beginning of a years-long relationship that has lasted to this day, continuing in the form of many more letters and of face-to-face visits in the prison. This relationship resulted in this book, The Other Wes Moore, in which the author shares important stages of his own and the other Wes Moore's life, showing how they got to where they are today.

After reading this book, there are several points that warrant consideration and greater contemplation. First, what is it that compels the author to see the existence of the other Wes Moore as more than just an interesting coincidence? Why is he driven to initiate contact with the other Wes Moore? Why does the other Wes Moore reply? What does each of them gain as the relationship develops? The author's life was not spotless academically or socially, just as the other Wes Moore's was not. He had done very poorly in elementary and middle school, and had managed to be arrested (though not tried) at a very young age. A turning point in his life was when his mother sent him to Valley Forge Military School. Though at first he was insubordinate and resistant, he eventually grew to love the military school and to thrive in its highly structured and respectful environment. However, when the author read the article about the robbery, perhaps one of the reasons it troubled him so much was because he could see how close he had been to being that young man in prison for life. Their beginnings were very similar, their childhoods shared many of the same places and environments...as the author so strikingly states at the beginning: "The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his." Perhaps he is driven to initiate contact out of a desire to find where the primary differences in their stories laid. Perhaps he wanted to reach out to someone who could've so easily been himself. As far as the other Wes Moore's reply, perhaps he was struck as well by their close lives, circumstances, and environment. Perhaps he became similarly haunted by the idea that he could've been like the author - an enviable place to most people in the country, and especially to a man in prison for life. There is a time in the life of each individual when we are forced to look back on our lives and wonder what we could've done differently. Perhaps the other Wes Moore saw this letter and this man as a real-life example of the greatness he could've aspired to. Instead of becoming angry, jealous, or defense, he became curious and replied. This is simply conjecture and may be far off the actual reasons or motives, but these thoughts are worth considering, in any case. The final question - what does each of them gain as the relationship develops - is a little harder to answer. I think the main thing each of them gains from this relationship is perspective and an understanding of how their choices led to their respective lives or "fates", if you will. Through the life of the other, each Wes Moore could see what they could've become, for better or for worse, given just a few different decisions than the ones they actually made. Perhaps this idea was more useful to the author since he could remember it in the future and be cautious of the choices he makes, whereas the other Wes Moore is in prison and will never really get the chance to make his choices for the better in order to change his circumstances. His circumstances must necessarily stay the same; however, perhaps his state of mind and his understanding can be changed.

Second, what role did education play in the life of each young man? In the life of the author, education helped turn him from the destructive path he was on. In being sent to military school after failing numerous classes and engaging in a wide range of wrong behavior, he was placed in an environment which, through the actions, words, and expectations of both his peers and leaders, managed to turn his life around. In contrast, education played a much smaller role in the life of the other Wes Moore, whose school attendance ceased to be even somewhat regular in middle school and dropped completely two years before graduation. It was more the lack of an education that had an impact on his life, as it kept him in ignorance and gave him ample time to get involved in the drug game.

Third, in response to the other Wes Moore's statement that we are products of our expectations rather than our environments: I think that I would agree. Yet I would add that in some ways our expectations are formed by our environment, and in that way, we are indirectly products of both. People often say that if we expect ourselves to fail, we will, and if we expect ourselves to succeed, we will. This is directly applicable to the other Wes Moore's statement. In the neighborhood and circumstances in which the latter grew up, his fate was foreseeable. Most kids ended up in the drug game; most kids ended up dead or in prison. These were the expectations they were held to. However, it is worth noting that it is possible to defy the expectations, going against the odds to achieve greatness. The author is an example. He grew up in the same environment as the other Wes Moore and was held to the same expectations. At first, he seemed to be fulfilling these expectations, but after going to military school, these expectations changed and he excelled to reach a level that no one would have expected given his background. As a result, we can see that, though expectations certainly have a great part in influencing us towards certain behavior, we are not caged in by them and left without a choice or an opportunity to change. Just because people expect us to be apathetic, this does not mean we must be. Just because people expect us to fail, this does not mean that we will. So, though expectations can create an attitude of complacency in the life we have, it is possible to fight against these expectations and succeed.

My Life Plan By God

For the past two days, I have been at my college orientation. It was an exciting and fun experience, yet at the same time, it was terrifying and overwhelming. It's as if we got a tiny glimpse of the next four years of our lives today, and it was more than I could handle. So tonight, as I was reflecting on all this, I thought of a well-known Scripture passage:

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones." - Proverbs 3:5-8

I think this passage may well become my motto and guiding light as I struggle through the joys and trials of college for the next four years. I also thought of a quote that my sister introduced to me years ago and which has inspired me many times since then:

"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see." — Corrie Ten Boom

I may be completely uncertain what the future holds for me. I may enter college completely oblivious to what I am getting myself into. I may struggle considerably with the adjustment. Yet no matter what, I have a God who has planned every event - every minute of every day - already for me, and I can trust Him with my life plan. It's not like the class schedule I just made for my semester, with faults and errors and classes that may be completely wrong for me. God's plan is flawless and everything - even the tiniest, most seemingly insignificant event - has a purpose to grow me and change me into the person that God wants me to be. That is a truly awesome thought! It gives great reassurance in the face of uncertainty!

Behind the Name

MELISSA

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English, Dutch, Ancient Greek, Greek Mythology

Other Scripts: Μελισσα (Ancient Greek)

Pronounced: mə-LIS-ə (English) [key]

Means "bee" in Greek. This was the name of a nymph that cared for young Zeus in Greek mythology. It is also the name of the fairy who helps Rogero escape from the witch Alcina in Ludovico Ariosto's poem 'Orlando Furioso' (1516). As an English given name, Melissa has been used since the 18th century.

http://www.behindthename.com/name/melissa