Feel the Beat!

Waiting on the World to Change..

You might have heard John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change.” Why are we waiting? What’s the point of talking and talking about changing our World, when we’re not doing anything about it? The truth is, though, we don’t look hard enough to realize that there’s change going on everywhere. It may not seem to be really affecting anything much, but the smallest things can eventually get bigger and bigger and truly make a big difference.

“Little drops of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land.  

Thus the little minutes,
Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity.”

-Ebenezer Cobham Brewer

I never really understood this poem before, but when you read it carefully it’s saying how some of the most important things start with something very small. So my point is, even the smallest, teeniest things can end up making a huge impact. I believe that music is something that affects us. The people who write and sing songs about making a difference are trying to reach out and say that there is hope that our world can be a better place. 

“Imagine,” by John Lennon, is a song that really makes me think. “Imagine all the people living life in peace,” is just one part of the song that just shows how people care about making the world a more peaceful place. When it says, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,” it’s proving that there are a lot of people out there in the world who truly want a better place to live in. It doesn’t matter how big of an act you do to change, but as I said before, the smallest things can truly make change. In my school there is a program called Roots and Shoots. Jane Goodall originally started it and it just expanded. In this program, we would help people, animals, and the environment. My most recent project was to help this very poor community in my country, and what my group wanted to do was raise money for a clinic they had in this town. We also wanted to help the children in the daycare, so we went to visit them one day, and now I know that the visit alone made those kids so happy. Just having people who cared enough to spend time with them made them very thankful. Actions like these can make a difference, maybe not in the world, but in people’s lives. 

Maybe you’ve heard of Simple Plan, an alternative band. They don’t necessarily write songs about changing the world, but one of their songs, “Crazy,” expresses how our world is in a really bad situation. Not the physical part of our world, but society. Why do people do certain things? Why not be happy with what you have? The song says that if you open your eyes, you’ll see that something is wrong. Things like money, fame, and beauty have just made people want to become something that isn’t good. Why do people want these things, and think it will make their life perfect when it only makes things a whole lot worse? You look at some celebrities and you think, “Well, they’ve gotten themselves in a big mess!” I’m not saying that all famous people are bad examples, because there are some great role models out there, but the things that some celebrities have become is just so depressing. 

So what is it that we can do to change our world? All it takes is stepping up and putting all the small pieces together. You can make yourself heard. Just how so many artists have done through their music. They made a point, and they prove that you can do it. YOU can make a difference. Feel the Beat!:D

iPod..

If I had to choose one belonging to have with me while stranded on an island, I think I would most likely want my iPod with me. I really don’t know what I would do without it. The iPod truly is an amazing invention. You can easily take it with you anywhere, and at the same time, have access to thousands of songs (depending on what model you have). What’s great about these tiny little devices is you can make it very personal by adding playlists and pictures, videos, and more. I especially like how it is classified by artists, songs, albums, genres, composers, and compilations. If I’m craving to listen to rock ballads, I just go to “Music,”" Genres,” and then “Rock,” and pick the song that I want. If I’m in the mood for My Chemical Romance, I go to “Artists” instead. Creating playlists are even better, because it is a way of classifying songs by what you think they have in common, whether they are to sing along to, dance to, or have it as background music while writing blogs. So to me, iPods are very efficient to have, since it is so much easier having all of my music in one place, rather than millions of CDs. I remember back when I was maybe nine or ten I would always change the CDs because I would get bored so easily of the same artist and the same songs. Eventually I started burning CDs with my favorite songs by different artists, but those could only fit maybe twenty songs, and I would, after a while, get bored of those too. But now, with the iPod, I can just press shuffle and listen to a variety of music.

There’s only one problem that I have with the Apple company. The iPods just keep coming and coming out with new editions which are always somehow better than the last. Only in 2001 did the very first iPod come out. Then we started seeing the iPod Mini’s, the Nano’s, the Shuffle.. Then the Mini’s weren’t being made, but even newer generations of the Classic, Nano, and Shuffle came out. And finally… the iPhone and iTouch came out. This advancement in technology occurred so fast that I didn’t even have time to take in the second generation of the Nano. This all happens so stupidly fast that one second you’re happy with the newest version of whatever you may have, and not even a year later are you already wanting what they’ve made next. I first got an iPod (the first generation of Nano) when I turned twelve. This past Christmas, I got the newest version (3rd generation Nano). I will admit that I did get sucked into the competition of who has the newest iPod, but who hasn’t? And if you do have an iPod, I’m sure there’s been a time where you wished you had the latest edition. I just think that things would be a whole lot easier if the Apple company weren’t so desperate to get out their newest invention every two months. But then again, I have to thank them for this ingenious idea of theirs, because without my iPod, I don’t think I could possibly survive. Okay, maybe not that exaggerated, but I’m guessing that you kind of get the point; without my iPod, things would be extremely different for me.

And just so the name of this blog actually fits into what I write, I’m going to start concluding my entries with the title of my blog…

Feel the beat!!!!  

Singing..

I love to sing. Every day when I come home from school, I turn on my music and start singing at the top of my lungs. If I had a frustrating day, I would probably listen to loud rock, while if I had come home from school feeling sad or lonely, I would probably listen and sing along to more depressing songs. Sometimes I wonder why it isn’t the other way around; if I were sad wouldn’t I listen to happy music to make me feel better? But when I have certain feelings I want to express them through my singing, even if it’s the saddest song. Since I can relate to the lyrics, it makes me feel like I’m not alone. There are others who share my feelings. To me, singing is like crying. When something bad happens and you feel like crying, you shouldn’t hold back, otherwise you would be bottling up your feelings. My philosophy is: Either you cry or you don’t. If you cry, then you let it out right then and there, and you never ever cry for that reason again. If you don’t cry, then you completely forget about the situation and never cry for it either. It’s the same thing with singing. Except when you sing a song, it could mean something completely different to you than it did last time you sang it. With a song, every situation is different, because there is so much to take in; the sounds, the lyrics, the instruments… These components are what make a song, a song.

To me, music is like my own personal sun. It’s what gets me up in the morning, helps me see through the day, and shines light upon the darkest situations. It illuminates my day with so many emotions, and can be blocked easily by big gray rain clouds and make me confused. But whether or not it starts raining, I can find my way around those clouds and see that the sun was always there, brightly shining, trying to force its way through the confusion. And when the day is over, and the moon comes out, surrounded by tiny stars, my sun is still there, filling my dreams with relaxing and happy images that I know will help me through the day that still hasn’t arrived.

Music is so inspiring. In fact, I’m listening to music right now, listening to each note and lyric, letting those guide my writing. My dad told me that when you write, the music you are listening to makes your “brain juice” flow, which makes you think more and want to write more. To some people it can be a distraction, but for me it’s the total opposite. It’s like second nature for me to sing; it doesn’t interrupt my thoughts or distract me, I just sing without realizing it. I can’t help doing something that I love so much, and if I lost my voice, I would be so sad. Just like dancing, I can’t live without my music. In a way, dancing and music are related. As a matter of fact, they work together in a sense. It would be kind of hard to dance without music, because there would be no beat, no tempo to dance to. When you dance, you listen to the lyrics to express the moves. You wouldn’t just get up and start dancing to nothing, but when I hear a song, I get this feeling that makes me want to dance. I guess that is why I love, not only dancing so much, but music as well, because without music there is no dance. If there was no music, I could never enjoy dancing like I do.

I was just thinking right now, although it may be off topic, but I was thinking about situations that make me, or anyone, cry. It’s funny, because sometimes I hear a song and my eyes tear up and I just want to cry, for no real, apparent reason. There aren’t many songs that make me do this, but strangely, the few songs that do cause this effect are the number one songs on my 25 most played songs. It isn’t that I’m constantly sad and looking for a place to escape to, but hearing these songs just makes me think a lot about things. They’re inspiring because they create such strong feelings in me, because I have never experienced them before. You could say that they make me curious, so I explore the meaning behind the words, and I may not really be able to relate to them, but I understand where these feelings are coming from.

I’m  happy that this is my passion. The thing is, if my passion was basketball, I wouldn’t be able to write the way I am now. It just doesn’t seem to be inspiring to me, and to write about my passion I have to be inspired. Unless I’m coming home from a basketball practice and just had this feeling of I HAVE to write about this, then maybe I would be able to accomplish something, but otherwise, I couldn’t see myself sitting at home just writing about it so passionately as I am now. The difference is, at this very moment, I’m listening to the most inspiring songs that I have on my iPod. These songs are what make these words come out of my head, and on to this post. Music is my everything; I can’t possibly live without it.

Music

Music is something that we can’t live without. Its a part of our lives that make it even more worthwhile living. Its everywhere you go; from the trees swaying in the wind, to the sound of cars zooming by on the highway. I know it sounds a little strange when you put it that way, but thats what makes the experience better. Music creates feelings that remind us of special things that have happened to us. It can trigger emotions like love, happiness, anger, heartbreak, and so much more. There are many forms that music can come in: instruments, singing, dancing, and nature. Luckily, we live in a world that has a vast amount of culture full of all kinds of music. What would life be like without all this?