It would seem odd to think that the negative aspects and or situations that life can sometimes bring to one's doorstep could be anything to boast about or to adore, however, as you read this, I would ask that you take such things to heart.
As a musician, this is a topic that comes up rather often. I listen to music, and write my own songs, and I ponder upon such thoughts.
Should we view the negative aspects of life as something to be avoided? Or are such times of sadness and despair needed?
I guess the real question is, why do we as humans find it to be so attractive? Sadness that is. We can all identify with it, yes, but is that why when we hear a terribly depressing song that it resonates with our soul in the measure that it does, sending chills through our body, or bringing about tears? Have you ever analyzed such feelings?
I personally have had my times of terrible sadness, and, as fate would have it, recently have come along something that has stolen away my ability to be truly sad ever again it would seem. Yet, even I, in all of my bliss, identify with such works of art in the very same measure as I did back in the day, when my feelings were the same as those that are being expressed. I find it to be attractive. There is this sort of, esoteric epicness, and from my perspective, a great deal of potential hope hidden behind it all, as though, one day something will come along and release that spring, and all of that positive energy will burst forth.
However, that is not my main point of this article. The point of this article is to point out to you that indeed, sad times come, and sad times go, but I want for you to focus on something.
Whenever you get knocked down by life, or brought to that point wherein you honestly feel as though you simply cannot take even one more step, I want you to realize that no matter if you feel "good enough" or whatever may be the case, that those times of despair, are there for one reason and one reason alone; and that is so that you can show yourself just how amazing you are.
The reason that such songs, movies, whatever form of art, touch us in the way that they do, is because honestly, on a subconscious level, we DO find it attractive. I know that sounds rather masochistic. I mean, pain is not something that one should seek after or desire. But you know what? It is something that is to be embraced. Have you ever noticed that any song of hope that you've ever heard has within it portions which speak of the writer's feelings of hopelessness? It has to be that way, and the reality is, that nobody ever succeeded at anything without first failing.
Someone somewhere once said, "I have not failed 1,000 times, I have discovered 1,000 ways that will not work".
The truth is, that this concept, permeates throughout the universe. Something new cannot be created without the old first being destroyed.
Any hardship that life throws at you will not get better by your complaining, in fact, the only thing that complaining is good for, is for you to tell yourself how unhappy you are with your less than gleeful situation, so that you can get it off of your chest, and move on...but that's not what we do most of the time now is it? We sit, and we weep, and we sit, and we weep, and before long, we have no idea what it is that we're actually sad about, we just enjoy the comfort that sadness brings.
One cannot be truly happy nor satisfied until they have been made to be truly unhappy and dissatisfied. It simply does not work that way. In fact, if you went and got as comfortable as you could possibly get, laying on your couch and watching television, your body would make you uncomfortable before it let you lie there for too long. You would die if you never moved from that position of comfort.
Have you ever noticed that pain or discomfort has never actually killed anyone. I'm talking of minor discomforts, or earth shattering emotional trauma even. These things are essentially harmless when it comes to life and death, and yet, in America, I find that we are nearly all so consumed with our own ideas of comfort and security, that we neglect the fact that when such things are threatened or taken away, that it is just like our body's refusing to let us stay comfortable in one position for too long.
Now, to me, this post feels scattered and not well written. My wrists hurt, this chair is not very comfortable, and I don't seem to be getting out what I intended to write in the first place, but, still within me is the desire to point such things out to you, and so, rather than deleting all of what I've written, I'm going to continue to type, and when I finish I will post it, because honestly, what I have to offer to this world does not depend upon my perception of it, nor of my comfort in doing it. The only thing that matters in the end, is that I can say that I at least tried. I had it all worked out in my head how I would write this, and tell you many great things about this subject, and now, I can't even seem to get anything of it out, but it doesn't matter, because I know that someone out there will read this, and it will be exactly what they needed to hear.
One cannot live by simply being self-serving all of the days of their life. I would encourage you to read through some of the other posts on this site, and search your soul, find out who you truly are, and realize that there IS something that you have to offer to this world, and see the infinite value of that, and then, stop complaining and procrastinating, and just go do it. What have you got to lose? You've got the world to gain....
I'm gonna go and play a song for the woman of my dreams. She's in the other room right now strumming away. She won't play for me, I'm not sure why, but it will all come out in the wash I suppose. The song that I'm going to play for her is one that she told me was her favorite out of all of the songs that I've written. It was written from a very dark place, full of doubt and despair. It was about her. You see, for quite some time I was in terrible pain, and she was the cause of it, and she knew what she was doing, but, from that period of darkness, I got this song, and not only is it her favorite, it's mine as well. Some of the best work that I've ever created in my opinion.
I think the thing I wanted to say in this post, was this....
"It seems to be at the moments of the least amount of hope, and of the most crushing despair, when we as human beings are pressed down on all sides, that out from within us proceeds the greatest and most awe inspiring works of art that the world has ever seen, powerful enough to inspire whole generations to search within themselves and find that same brilliant light. It is in our darkest hour that true human emotion is set free, and all is cleansed in that moment, and we see what we truly are..." - Ethan Womack
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Find True Meaning
It would seem that lately, people world-wide are starting to awaken, as slowly as it is. Around me I see a world not only in need of a revolution, but one in which it's inhabitants are all receiving the universal message that if something doesn't change then we are all headed for a fate worse than any that could have been imagined.
We are all a little strange aren't we? We have our quirks, we see things differently, and some of us our more outspoken than others. But is that really as big of a problem as it seems? I mean honestly, what would we do without doctors, mechanics, IT specialists, gas station clerks, musicians? What would the world be without the diversity that currently exists?
From time to time the universe comes to you, and it breathes upon you, and into your soul floods tiny flashes of hope, of purpose, and of enlightenment. We all have a residual self-image in the back of our minds, and when we truly see that person that we were meant to be, rather than the usual distortion of ourselves, we find happiness.
Life is full of mystery and wonder, and such thoughts if thought upon too deeply can cause quite a bit of confusion. We look around at others and seem to all desire somewhere within us to be someone else, as though, "If I were them, I would be content", but the reality is, you would not. That person who you envy, envies you just as much. No one can be content until first they are content with themselves. It is not the number of dollar bills at your disposal that gives you a sense of security. It is not the amount of drugs in your system that gives you feelings of euphoria. It is not your intelligence that makes you smart, and it is not what you have that makes you who you are.
You are who you are because you are.
What is your name? What do you look like? How do you think? What dreams do you have, and which ones have you hidden because you feel as though they can never be accomplished?
All of these things are unique to you, and let me tell you a little secret that someone once told me. Out of the 7 billion people alive on this planet today, there is only one you, and only you can do what you were born to do. Only one person can ever be what you were meant to be.
Persistence is omnipotent.
Do you know who you are? If you begin to listen to yourself, not the random slew of conscious thoughts that may run through your mind upon reading that question, but the still small voice that forms in the thoughts behind your thoughts, you might just be surprised what you hear.
The only war that you will ever have to fight will not be a war against those who might oppose you as you progress upon this path that is life, but rather, it will be a war against yourself, and yourself alone. Conquer that person, and all else will seem non-existent.
I have in my mind, even right now as I write, a lot of different ideas, goals, plans, and dreams of what I hope to accomplish during my lifetime, and I know, because it happens on a near constant basis, that as soon as I stop focusing on them in an "I can because I have" attitude, my doubts will seem to near cripple my ability to even function. It is a crushing blow that is dealt to oneself. We are not only our worst critics, we are our own worst enemy, and in fact our only hope. Nobody can do it for you. Your life is yours to live. You know what you are, and if you are not on the way towards the true you, then that small voice in the back of your mind will continue to grow louder and louder. Not only will your thoughts begin to cause within you a feeling of guilt, but, if you choose to notice, rather than ignore it consistently, the entire world around you will seem to scream along with that voice, encouraging you to go and achieve that which you desire, because, in all reality, you already have. It is not the achievement that is evidence of who you are, it is the dream, the simple thought. However, thoughts are intangible, and intangible things are a part of life only to serve as an indicator and motivator for tangible things.
Within each and every one of us lies a power that is more amazing than could even be imagined, the trouble is, I find, not that we have a fear of failure so much as it is a fear of success. I speak to you now in the same tone that the universe will speak to you, if you, like me, continue to procrastinate, and doubt yourself, and that is in a tone of sincere honesty. You know what you are, and the only reason that you are not on your way towards becoming the very best you that you can be, is because if you search yourself, you will find that your dreams seem too big, sweet, and exhilarating than you think that you can handle. You say to yourself, "I wish I had more money" but you don't, because if you did, you would. You say to yourself all sorts of things that you wish were different about yourself.
Wishes are not the innocent statements of children as they stare at falling stars, they are evidences of your own doubt of such a thing ever becoming a reality. It is saying that you are giving up. Whenever you wish things were different, it is your way of saying that you have accepted yourself as you appear to yourself, rather than telling yourself who you are, you are letting your selfish fears dictate to you not what you are, but rather what you are allowed to be. It is as though every failure, disappointment, and disillusioned dream that you have given up on, has not been the fault of the universe, god, or any other person at all. It IS your fault.
...But don't beat yourself up over failures, dare to achieve that in which you find true meaning for your life, and you'll see.... Every mistake you made along the way was only made to put you in the position that you are in, so that you can realize your true potential.
Life is full of hardships, but you are not knocked to the ground in an attempt to disable you, and it is not because some cosmic deity wants to see just how much you can handle... You were knocked down by the universe so that you can prove to yourself just how many times you can get up... I know that it sounds as though such a philosophy sounds on the surface like a cheesy "Self-Help" book, but the concept runs much deeper. No one can be at peace with anything in life, until they are first at peace within them self, and in order to be at peace with oneself, one must be true to them self, and stop lying....
This is not about reading encouraging words, or positive messages, this is about the fact that human-kind is an amazing species, and if you take notice, we ARE gods in comparison with the rest of the life here upon the earth, and that in and of itself should explain to you as to why every time that you do not recognize yourself, you are lying to yourself, and no one can be given peace of mind through lies... There's some part of us that just knows.... You know....
From time to time the universe comes to you, and it breathes upon you, and into your soul floods tiny flashes of hope, of purpose, and of enlightenment. We all have a residual self-image in the back of our minds, and when we truly see that person that we were meant to be, rather than the usual distortion of ourselves, we find happiness.
Life is full of mystery and wonder, and such thoughts if thought upon too deeply can cause quite a bit of confusion. We look around at others and seem to all desire somewhere within us to be someone else, as though, "If I were them, I would be content", but the reality is, you would not. That person who you envy, envies you just as much. No one can be content until first they are content with themselves. It is not the number of dollar bills at your disposal that gives you a sense of security. It is not the amount of drugs in your system that gives you feelings of euphoria. It is not your intelligence that makes you smart, and it is not what you have that makes you who you are.
You are who you are because you are.
What is your name? What do you look like? How do you think? What dreams do you have, and which ones have you hidden because you feel as though they can never be accomplished?
All of these things are unique to you, and let me tell you a little secret that someone once told me. Out of the 7 billion people alive on this planet today, there is only one you, and only you can do what you were born to do. Only one person can ever be what you were meant to be.
Persistence is omnipotent.
Do you know who you are? If you begin to listen to yourself, not the random slew of conscious thoughts that may run through your mind upon reading that question, but the still small voice that forms in the thoughts behind your thoughts, you might just be surprised what you hear.
The only war that you will ever have to fight will not be a war against those who might oppose you as you progress upon this path that is life, but rather, it will be a war against yourself, and yourself alone. Conquer that person, and all else will seem non-existent.
I have in my mind, even right now as I write, a lot of different ideas, goals, plans, and dreams of what I hope to accomplish during my lifetime, and I know, because it happens on a near constant basis, that as soon as I stop focusing on them in an "I can because I have" attitude, my doubts will seem to near cripple my ability to even function. It is a crushing blow that is dealt to oneself. We are not only our worst critics, we are our own worst enemy, and in fact our only hope. Nobody can do it for you. Your life is yours to live. You know what you are, and if you are not on the way towards the true you, then that small voice in the back of your mind will continue to grow louder and louder. Not only will your thoughts begin to cause within you a feeling of guilt, but, if you choose to notice, rather than ignore it consistently, the entire world around you will seem to scream along with that voice, encouraging you to go and achieve that which you desire, because, in all reality, you already have. It is not the achievement that is evidence of who you are, it is the dream, the simple thought. However, thoughts are intangible, and intangible things are a part of life only to serve as an indicator and motivator for tangible things.
Within each and every one of us lies a power that is more amazing than could even be imagined, the trouble is, I find, not that we have a fear of failure so much as it is a fear of success. I speak to you now in the same tone that the universe will speak to you, if you, like me, continue to procrastinate, and doubt yourself, and that is in a tone of sincere honesty. You know what you are, and the only reason that you are not on your way towards becoming the very best you that you can be, is because if you search yourself, you will find that your dreams seem too big, sweet, and exhilarating than you think that you can handle. You say to yourself, "I wish I had more money" but you don't, because if you did, you would. You say to yourself all sorts of things that you wish were different about yourself.
...But don't beat yourself up over failures, dare to achieve that in which you find true meaning for your life, and you'll see.... Every mistake you made along the way was only made to put you in the position that you are in, so that you can realize your true potential.
Life is full of hardships, but you are not knocked to the ground in an attempt to disable you, and it is not because some cosmic deity wants to see just how much you can handle... You were knocked down by the universe so that you can prove to yourself just how many times you can get up... I know that it sounds as though such a philosophy sounds on the surface like a cheesy "Self-Help" book, but the concept runs much deeper. No one can be at peace with anything in life, until they are first at peace within them self, and in order to be at peace with oneself, one must be true to them self, and stop lying....
This is not about reading encouraging words, or positive messages, this is about the fact that human-kind is an amazing species, and if you take notice, we ARE gods in comparison with the rest of the life here upon the earth, and that in and of itself should explain to you as to why every time that you do not recognize yourself, you are lying to yourself, and no one can be given peace of mind through lies... There's some part of us that just knows.... You know....
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