#1 Modern American Themes: “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” (post before Tuesday, December 2)
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is a multi-layered story, which, in addition to possessing a fascinating plot, calls to mind many important ideas and issues. The author, Joyce Carol Oates, admitted that she had a partiality during this time in her career for writing "allegory," and after all, good allegory invites us to think about and apply the story to our own lives. Respond to one of the five (5) prompts in 250 words or more and post your response before Tuesday, December 2.
1. Fall from innocence into experience
Share with us an incident in which you lost a little of your childhood innocence and you learned the ropes of the real world.
2. The disappearance of religion and the acceptance of the easy values of the modern world
Share with us parts of your “faith life.” Do you attend Church weekly? Read the Bible? Belong to a Church group? Etc. Discuss how this has benefited you and others.
3. Rock and roll is the Devil's tool: Arnold Friend is the Devil (Ellie Oscar as Elvis)
Talk about a musical artist or group that promotes aberrant or immoral behavior for followers of that group. Why do you think that teens and young adults attracted to that group?
4. The story is a feminist parable of the sad situation for women in the 60s—they lose their beauty, youthful innocence, and romantic dreams or become hopeless old maids like Connie’s sister.
Write about a (somewhat modern) famous woman who resisted and won against this stereotype.
5. Bob Dylan was a “new” realistic voice of reason and experience in 1965
Tell me about a current musical artist or group whose songs promote meaningful thought or messages, especially ones that promote new ideas.
posted by JTF @ 8:39 PM
45 comments
45 Comments:
Music today is either extremely good or extremely awful. That goes for the morals of the people responsible for recording the song. I would usually bash on rappers, since they over use profound lyrics and get an immense amount of money for producing such low quality music. In this situation, I am going to bash on musicians of the genre of modern day music that I can tolerate, pop (or pop-rock). In most cases, I believe these musicians to be worse influences than rappers. The musician that I believe to be the worst offender of this immoral behavior is Justin Bieber. In a way, Justin Bieber is a modern day Elvis. He is good looking and his music is the “music of the devil.” If I had a daughter in this day in age, I would be not be very thrilled if she listened to music like this. Justin Bieber has always been an influential person. When he appeared in the music scene five years ago, he seemed like a harmless teenager trying to work his way up in the world. After seeing a huge surge in his popularity, I predicted that he would end up extremely stupid, on drugs, and would abuse his power as a celebrity. It turns out I was right. Justin Bieber has been fined, arrested, or summoned to court over five times, most of them this year alone. To top it off, he made a very stupid, very disrespectful comment about Anne Frank. Even though all of this has happened, he has appeared to lose no members of his fan base. My major concern is that he is attracting fans who can comprehend what is happening in his person life that are as young as four. If this trend continues and he keeps getting worse, he could encourage his fans that: drugs are safe to use, street racing is okay, teenagers should be rebellious and disrespectful, and other immoral themes that his music might include in the future. Bieber is the absolute worse combination of all of these factors and I fear that most females will fall under the influence of being a “Bielieber.” This shows how much of an influence celebrities, in this case a musician, could have and how much of a risk it is to be a fan of a certain performer.
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My faith is a very significant part of my life. I have been attending Catholic school since 3rd grade and in the process, I have attended Sunday School for many years. I attend Sacred Heart Church in Chestertown, Maryland almost every Sunday with my family and I am very involved in my parish. I used to be an altar server for many years and now I am currently a Children's Liturgy leader that teaches kids about church and the gospel in a way that they can understand. It brightens my day just seeing all the kids having so much fun; whether it is participating in a group activity to learn a lesson or singing church songs, they always seem to have the biggest smiles on their faces. I have also been baptized and received my First Communion, Reconciliation, and Confirmation all at the same church that I have been attending my whole life. One of my favorite and most life changing experiences was my Confirmation retreat in 9th grade. About twenty of us spent the weekend together doing team building exercises and getting to know one another better. It was really neat to see everyone interacting and having fun. We zip-lined and played games and at the same time, we each connected with God and ourselves on a deeper level. This break from reality and time of reflection definitely prepared me for my Confirmation. Another activity I am involved in is The Giving Tree. This is where we ask the members of the parish to bring in gifts for children and their families who have nothing this holiday season. Then we spend a day bagging and labeling all the presents and we personally give them to their families. Seeing the gratitude and happiness in their smiles is priceless. These are just two of the many experiences that have helped me grow in my faith and understanding of God. Being involved in all these various activities has definitely strengthened my relationship with God and has given me the opportunity to meet all kinds of people that share my interests and beliefs. I have met people of all ages and from all backgrounds in my church that have been nothing but kind and accepting. I have becomes much more appreciative of what I have been blessed with after seeing how little some people have. There have been times in my life where I truly don’t know what I would have done without my faith and trust in God. I am very thankful that throughout the years, my faith has made be a better, stronger, and happier person.
Working at job causes people to grow up. There are more responsibilities and people must live up to the expectations given to them. Working in an animal hospital, I feel, has given more responsibilities than any other job I have had. I am responsible, not only for the animals, but for the owners as well. One day while I was working, I was asked to answer a voice mail from a client. She was asking for a specific doctor about her dogs eating habits. I wrote down all the information she said on a card and placed it on the designated doctor’s desk. A few days later, my boss asked if I put a callback card on a doctor’s desk. At first I said no because I didn’t remember ever leaving one, but when I thought about it more I knew it was me. I was so embarrassed because I felt as if I lied to my boss. I was very nervous to tell her the truth because I didn’t know how she would react. It was my responsibility though and I need to tell the truth. I saw her the next day and told her it was me that handed the call back card to the doctor. She thanked me for telling her and explained that I made a few mistakes on the card that I could easily remember to not do again. Even though I was nervous to tell her, I had to do it because it was my responsibility. I felt I grew up from this experience because I took blame for my mistake and fixed the situation just as an adult would do. I may have wanted to take the easy way out, but I learned that we all must grow up and face our problems.
One event in my life in which I lost some of my childhood innocence and was forced to face the real world was when I saw my parents fight for the first time. I was only about seven or eight years old, and I woke up early one morning before school and walked downstairs. My parents always get up early to make coffee so I decided to go and say good morning. I heard them talking loudly as I walked into the kitchen. My mom was upset because my dad wasn’t helping out with something, and didn’t make my lunch for school. “You can’t even make stupid sandwiches!” my mother screamed and ran upstairs in tears. I stood their stunned and looked at my dad for an answer. All he said was, “Go upstairs back to bed.” So I went upstairs and went back to bed like I was told, but I didn’t fall asleep. I had never seen my parents fight before, and at that moment I realized that my family wasn’t perfect. No ones family was perfect. No matter how much people love each other, there will always be fights. The next day, everything was back to normal, and I realized that true love will fix any argument. I wasn’t blind to the adult world anymore where I thought that everything was perfect and easy. I realized that people struggle and have problems. It was good that I saw that though, because I knew that it was ok to get mad sometimes as long as you fix the problem.
It was two years ago. I was studying in another city away from my family. It was a weekend, I was walking on the street to the mall and two man sitting on the side of the road walk toward me and ask for help. Both of them are skinning and short, talk with northern accent. They claim that they drove down from Beijing and they just had a car accident and they hit a girl. They look kind of anxious so I keep listening to their story. They said the girl is in hospital now and their battery died, they just want to make a call. So I lend my phone to them. Everything seemed a little weird but I was the good man so I trust them. Beside they were just using my phone and we were standing in the middle of the city, lots of people passing by, so I was not too worried their robbery or something. Their conversation over the phone was odd. They said they need to get some cash from the bank across the road and they wanted me to go with them. I was kind of worried and I noticed something is going to happen. But I went with them anyway. They keep saying that they are wealthy and have a fancy car, and all they wanted is just to keep contact with the girl and hospital. We were standing outside the bank. One of them said he wants to borrow my phone so he can keep calling the girl to make sure everything is alright. And he insisted that I wait outside. That is when I know they were frauds. So I told them that I cannot help and I walked away. I was happy after all that I was smart enough to pass through that. And I found I was being in the world with all kind of people who wants something from you.
It was two years ago. I was studying in another city away from my family. It was a weekend, I was walking on the street to the mall and two man sitting on the side of the road walk toward me and ask for help. Both of them are skinning and short, talk with northern accent. They claim that they drove down from Beijing and they just had a car accident and they hit a girl. They look kind of anxious so I keep listening to their story. They said the girl is in hospital now and their battery died, they just want to make a call. So I lend my phone to them. Everything seemed a little weird but I was the good man so I trust them. Beside they were just using my phone and we were standing in the middle of the city, lots of people passing by, so I was not too worried their robbery or something. Their conversation over the phone was odd. They said they need to get some cash from the bank across the road and they wanted me to go with them. I was kind of worried and I noticed something is going to happen. But I went with them anyway. They keep saying that they are wealthy and have a fancy car, and all they wanted is just to keep contact with the girl and hospital. We were standing outside the bank. One of them said he wants to borrow my phone so he can keep calling the girl to make sure everything is alright. And he insisted that I wait outside. That is when I know they were frauds. So I told them that I cannot help and I walked away. I was happy after all that I was smart enough to pass through that. And I found I was being in the world with all kind of people who wants something from you.
The summer after my freshman year is when I lost a part of my childhood innocence. I applied for a job at Woodside Farm Creamery and was hired. Throughout the summer, I began to take on small roles of adulthood. I started to become independent and responsible. As an employee at Woodside, I was responsible for showing up to work on time in the proper uniform, serving customers during my shift, and sending in my availability for the next several weeks. I could no longer depend on my parents to do things for me. Work became a big priority in my life during the summer and often times I would work five or six days out of the week. If I was unable to work a shift I was scheduled for, I was responsible for getting someone to work my shift. Having a job has taught me to become independent at a young age. I rarely relied on my parents to tell me when I had to work. Working has taught me to keep a schedule of all my activities and be organized. My manager and boss relied on me often and treated me like a young adult. As I learned to roles of adulthood, I started to mature and do things out side of work for myself. Since the summer after my freshman year, I have been working at Woodside and learning the ropes of the real world. This is when I took my first small step into adulthood.
Taylor Swift is an artist who is considered an inspiration to many people, mostly teenage girls. Her songs offer a sense of security in times of heartbreak and tragedy. Her lyrics are usually very deep, personal thoughts that reflect on her own experiences in life. Though she appeals mainly to a certain age group and gender, her songs usually have a very powerful message behind them that could relate to people outside of her fan base. Just recently, off of her new album 1989 Taylor Swift released a song called "Shake It Off". The lyrics behind this hit tell people to do just that, shake off the little things in life. Basically she is telling her listeners that people are going to; say mean things, shed hate on you, play mind games, and just all in all not like you, it's your job to shake it off and not dwell on it. Swift also has many other songs that offer advice. One of her songs titled "Mean" talks about the critics in life and how all they will ever be doing is being mean to people while the people they talk bad about will be becoming successful. She also has her saga of love songs that seem cliche to the average person (assuming the average person is not an avid listener). But if you listen close enough and really concentrate on the lyrics, she talks about relatable things that can really help a person out. One of her songs that illustrates this is called "Fifteen". It is about starting high school and not giving in to peer pressure and making new friends. The most important thing she expressed in this song is not to think it's the end of the world when you and your high school boyfriend or girlfriend break up. She sings, "In your life, you'll do things greater than, dating the boy on the football team. I didn't know it at fifteen." She touches on how naive you are at such a young age and susceptible you are to thinking something is more important than it actually is. There is a lot to be learned from listening carefully to Taylor Swift's music. That is why a lot of teenagers listen to her albums and find her relatable. Throughout all of her songs there is usually at least one that can relate to your own life.
1. As a child I was very active, hyper, stubborn and sneaky; especially when I went to shopping with my parents. When I was young and we all went out shopping I would always get what I wanted because all I had to do was wine for about 5 minutes and then my parents would give in a buy me what I wanted especially my mom she was the easiest for her it was just fake to make a fit and the toy was in the cart. At the age of around 5 my parents caught into my methods and would just allow me to wine and would never buy me my stuff. So instead of giving up my stubbornness and sneakiness kicked in. This was the moment where I began to steal the toys I wanted. I was really good at it I would go into the stores with a jacket all the time and run straight to the toys section and tell my parents I would be there the entire time, which was never a lie because I would just sit and play with the toys. Before I would play with the toys I would snag one of the ones that I wanted and put it into my jacket pockets. The first time I did it I was so nervous. I thought I would get caught and when I didn't it was all downhill from there. This went on for a month when the two had a security sensor on it I wouldn't take it but soon I just realized I'll open up the box and take it instead. I got caught when one day my little brother realized I had all these toys stashed under my pillow, which was my hiding spot. He then told my parents who yelled and grounded me and them made me return every toy which was easy because they all had tags on them besides the ones I had taken out the box but I remembered where I got them all from. I did try to get out of the situation by saying I was too young to understand but it didn't work my parents didn't buy it. They said if I knew that I had to hide the toy to get it out of the store then I knew what I was doing was completely. That was the last time I ever stole anything.
1. As a child I was very active, hyper, stubborn and sneaky; especially when I went to shopping with my parents. When I was young and we all went out shopping I would always get what I wanted because all I had to do was wine for about 5 minutes and then my parents would give in a buy me what I wanted especially my mom she was the easiest for her it was just fake to make a fit and the toy was in the cart. At the age of around 5 my parents caught into my methods and would just allow me to wine and would never buy me my stuff. So instead of giving up my stubbornness and sneakiness kicked in. This was the moment where I began to steal the toys I wanted. I was really good at it I would go into the stores with a jacket all the time and run straight to the toys section and tell my parents I would be there the entire time, which was never a lie because I would just sit and play with the toys. Before I would play with the toys I would snag one of the ones that I wanted and put it into my jacket pockets. The first time I did it I was so nervous. I thought I would get caught and when I didn't it was all downhill from there. This went on for a month when the two had a security sensor on it I wouldn't take it but soon I just realized I'll open up the box and take it instead. I got caught when one day my little brother realized I had all these toys stashed under my pillow, which was my hiding spot. He then told my parents who yelled and grounded me and them made me return every toy which was easy because they all had tags on them besides the ones I had taken out the box but I remembered where I got them all from. I did try to get out of the situation by saying I was too young to understand but it didn't work my parents didn't buy it. They said if I knew that I had to hide the toy to get it out of the store then I knew what I was doing was completely. That was the last time I ever stole anything.
I lost a little of my childhood innocence and learned the ropes of the real world when I began driving on my own. As a child, you depend on your parents to drive you everywhere. They know where you are all the time and have control of where you go and how long you’re there. When I started driving on my own though, this changed. When you drive on your own, you have complete responsibility of your safety along with the safety of all the passengers in the car. As a kid, you just assume your parents can get you where you need to go safely, but when it is your time behind the wheel, you become aware of all the risks of driving. You also have total control of where the car is going. There is a lot of trust and responsibility between a parent and their kid when they allow them to go off and drive places on their own. There is also the responsibility of keeping your car clean and filling it up with gas. You don’t always have your parents there to clean the car for you and fill up the gas tank, so you must learn this on your own. There is also the responsibility of learning all the rules of the road and following them. When I learned how to do all of this, I felt much more responsible and mature. Overall, driving on your own is a big transformation from childhood to adulthood.
In today’s world there not many musical artists who promote meaningful thoughts or messages. Many artist of today can not even sing on their own, they have to have the recording room make their voices sound good. Also, most of the music today relates to sex, money, or drugs in some way. Music back in the day was never like the music we have now. What happened to the “real” music? There are only a few artists I can think of that actually make meaningful and real music. Three of my favorite artists of today are Adele, Michael Buble, and Sam Smith. These artist make real music with good words. All of their songs are meaningful and thoughtful. These artists can actually sing as well. They are naturally talented people who know how to make real music. One new artist, Jake Miller, is a hip-hop/rap artist. Instead of rapping about provocative situations, he raps about changing the world. One of his songs is “I’m Alright.” In this song Jake raps about one homeless man who has nothing but is happy with what he has versus a rich man who has everything he has ever wanted in the world but is unhappy and depressed. The message to this song says to be happy with the little things in life and that you don’t need all the luxurious things in life to be happy. The chorus of this songs says, “I got life, I got love, I got faith and that's enough, We feel sorrow, we feel pain, But there's sunshine after rain, So I'm alright” Most songs today do not have messages like this for the world to hear. Maybe an artist like Jake Miller can promote upcoming artist to make the new idea of changing todays music.
Arnold Friend represents a satanic presence in the lives of adolescents. He attaches and takes advantage of young teenagers and plays the devil’s music, rock and roll. Music and artists have a tremendous impact on teenagers and young adults. An example of this influence artists hold over society is through the career of Miley Cyrus. Miley Cyrus got her fame through a children’s TV show, Hannah Montana, one that she quickly outgrew. The fans of this TV show watched the show religiously and the character Hannah Montana started creating a fan base of her own. Fans began purchasing tickets to actual concerts where both Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana would perform. Young girls fell in love with Miley and Hannah and when there was no more Hannah Montana, these young girls only had Miley to look to as a role model. The new Miley held herself and promoted completely different things. A role model who once stood for family and girl empowerment was now going through what some would call her “rebel” phase. Miley was now dressing skimpier, singing provocative songs, and going out and partying. In turn the girls who grew up with Miley began doing the same. With the change of music and attitude, Miley gained new followers while still keeping the fan base she created with Hannah Montana. The parents of these fans weren’t pleased with the role model Miley Cyrus was becoming to their children and what she stood for. The components of Miley’s attitude, clothing choices, and lyrics in her songs have played a significant part in the lives of her fans. Her fans have turned a 180 from innocence to exposure with the alteration of Miley’s beliefs and image.
Before the time I could speak, my parents brought me to church every Sunday. I was raised into a Christian family and always loved God, but I began to drift away from religion around the time I turned twelve. I began to question everything about it: If anything in the Bible really made sense, if there really was a God. I thought going to Church would make a person seem weird.. a religious freak. I would even begin to make fun of those people. Just this past year, I turned my life around in many ways. I did all of it by getting my relationship better with God.
I consider myself a Christian, and I always have. I’ve become a much better Christian however, I now attend Church every week and read the Bible. This has allowed me to see that the decisions I was making were not the right ones and it has guided me to making much better decisions and getting away from some situations I should not have been in. Not only has this benefitted me, but also others. I treat people with more respect and don’t judge people like I did in the past. The way you treat people plays a huge role in their everyday life and at the time I didn’t care to see how this effected them.
This has also benefitted others because my faith led me to a mission trip to El Salvador. I had the opportunity to spend time with people who were less fortunate and I could give them everything I could. Not only materialistic things, but many of them were introduced to God in those ten days.
As a Catholic I have been baptized and confirmed. I have also participated in reconciliation. I am an active catholic who tries to attend church regularly but that does not always happen. I do not read the Bible but I listen to the readings at mass. I think being a catholic as benefited me because I go to a catholic school and it allows me to show my belief in god. Being a catholic and going to a catholic school gives me the ability to pray during school, at practices, and before games. People at public are not fortunate enough to show their belief in god. I am lucky to have gone to a catholic school my whole life. I think religion and god need to play a bigger part in my life since I have started to grow up I have starting to grow away from them both. I often complain about going to church and I think I need to stop and grow up and sacrifice an hour to go and profess my faith. I am lucky to have been raised to believe in god unlike others because he is always with me and will always be there for me when I need him. I am thankful to my parents to have made the decision to have raised me catholic and put me first by paying for me to go to a catholic school and be able to pray freely without being restricted by others who do not believe.
When I was told that the fictitious characters; such as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy were fake, I lost a part of my childhood innocence. The day I found out Santa Claus was not real and that my parents were responsible for all of the present giving, I was one of the most disappointed kids in the world. Who was the horrible being who told me the bad news? One of my classmates in the fifth grade. It was a sad day. Life's mysteries began to unravel before me. That coming Christmas just wasn't as exciting as it normally was. Life's not as fun without the idea of magic but that's reality, life is not as magical as it seems as a little kid. It's disappointing but it's life. I realized I was lucky to even have gifts under the tree because some families aren't as fortunate. I realized that since Santa wasn't delivering the toys for free, my parents were working hard to give me the things I wanted. Before that I thought the amount of presents you received all revolved around whether you were "naughty or nice". Although the waiting up for Santa and the excitement of believing had stopped, the love and gratefulness of family and the holidays grew and as I continue to age this concept becomes clearer and clearer.
When I was in seventh grade my parents came to me with news that would change my life forever. My brother, sister, and I came home from school that day, like any ordinary day. Our parents then began to tell us that they are getting a divorce. This news hit us all hard, like it should as a young child. Soon after my mom moved out of the house which caused us to do a lot of things differently. After that day I noticed the simple day to day routine starting to change. We all had to grow up a little faster than the normal child. My dad wasn’t the best cook so I started making some dinners to help him out. The same happened with the cleaning around the house; including laundry, dishes, and cleaning the house in general. I also had to try and get along with my sister and brother a little better and be the bigger person in a lot of situations. I began to realize pretty quickly things were not going to go back to normal. I carried this on for the next couple of years and got used to it pretty quickly. As I got older I started becoming more independent. I thought that it would be a good idea to cover some of my own recreational expenses. I went out and looked for a job and took on two jobs to help me with gas coverage and other of my own personal payments. My parents getting divorced made me a better person in the fact that I became a more independent person. I can take up responsibilities that maybe other people cannot at this age. This helped me with everything I have to do on a daily basis.
A current musical artist whose songs promote meaningful thought or messages is Macklemore. He is a fairly new artist to the public eyes but, in the past few years, has had two number one singles. He used his ability to write very catchy songs to gain the opportunity to put meaningful words out to the world. Most people believe that rap songs do not contain any true meaning, but if they look in the right places it will. A song by Macklemore that holds real meaning is called “Same Love”. It talks about the issue of gay and lesbian rights and was recorded during the campaign for Washington Referendum 74, which, upon approval in 2012, legalized Same-sex marriage in Washington State. The song reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and reached number 1 in both New Zealand and Australia. It was nominated at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards for Song of the Year. The cover artwork for the single shows a photograph of Macklemore's uncle, John Haggerty, and his partner, Sean. Macklemore used his talents to become known and put out a song to show what he believes in. This song became so famous to the cause that it has basically become the anthem for people who believe in gay rights. Also, his has become more popular since this song came out. An artist from a group called “Training Camp” named Tone EZ wrote a song about the problems in Ferguson. He spoke his mind and it touched the hearts of thousands. This shows that for years, artists from all different genres have been expressing beliefs through music.
When I lost some of my childhood innocence was after freshman year of high school. I always thought that everything would be easy like grade school but then I got to freshman year. It was great and really fun but also, kind of sad because of how fast everything was going. Grade school was always just study a little bit and earn good grades, which eventually never really mattered, but then I got to Saint Mark’s where in order to succeed you had to study hard and do all of the homework. On top of that, I had soccer everyday not just twice a week like before. I had to keep track of my own schedule and keep on top of my own things. After freshman year however, I never really tried, but then I looked at my grades and just thought wow; and how my sister carried a 4.0 average throughout high school. I was not on track to do that and I wanted to succeed like her. I figured out that I could not just go into tests and quizzes not studying and I could not just sit around and talk in class anymore. I had to get down to business to get into a good college and eventually face reality. Nothing was going to be easy anymore, not everyone is going to like you, and many new things were going to happen which I have never done before. I faced the facts that it was turning into the real world. I could not just let things happen anymore; I had to make them happen.
My first big step into the real world was starting my first job. I started working at a daycare last year where I was in charge of watching over children ages 0-5 years old and cleaning up around the daycare. Starting this job was a drastic change for me and it gave me a new sense of responsibility. I had to be accountable for not only myself but the safety of the children as well. I also had to clean up around the daycare which included washing dishes, doing laundry, cooking meals and other miscellaneous duties. This showed me what it will be like to have a house and a family of my own one day. Having a job also put me in charge of my own money which I could either spend or save. Learning the value of money and saving for my future plans was an excellent experience to have early in life.
Aside from these new responsibilities my daily schedule was also completely changed so I had to closely manage my time. It was difficult to balance school, work, homework, family time, and a social life however I soon learned how much time to devote to each of these activities to be successful in all aspects of my life. Over the past few years there have been multiple things leading me into adulthood including driving on my own, working, and applying and getting accepted into colleges respectively but beginning my first job in my eyes was the first real experience that helped me learn the ropes of the real world as a young adult.
The incident in my life in which I lost a little of my childhood innocence and learned the ropes of the real world occurred when I was seven years old. The summer of the year I turned seven I had to attend a summer camp for my parents both worked during the day. I thought the camp labeled "Sports of All Sorts" would be fun and I would be able to make many new friends. I was mistaken and I quickly found out this place was a living hell. All the other kids in the same age group were cruel in their words and actions towards one another. Being raised by a catholic family and attending a parochial school I had never seen this kind of behavior before. It was new and scary to me. I had never seen children so competitive to the point of fighting if they lost. The trash talk between each other was so vulgar that it would always break out into fights. The group counselors would always stop it but the scene was never forgotten. I quickly learned that I wasn't very welcome there. I was made fun of and harassed before they even knew me. The worst feeling was being segregated against for the fact that I was white. They doubted my athletic abilities because I wasn't black. I didn't understand why all this was done to me so all I ever did was stay quiet and played the sports of the day. When I proved that I was just as good and sometimes even better than those who made fun of me, the jokes stopped and I earned a little respect from them. However I could never forget the way they treated me before they even knew me. This was my lesson that people in the real world are not as good as we hope for them to be.
Jay P red said...
Over my adolescent years I’ve lost a lot of my childhood innocence. One event that sticks out significantly to me is my Grandma becoming diagnosed with dementia. My Grandma was diagnosed with dementia my freshman year of high school. This impacted my life significantly. My grandma was a huge part of my life. She never missed one of my sporting events and she was always at any significant event I had throughout my life. She’s a very big part of my life and I’m very close with her. When she was diagnosed with dementia it showed me that not everything in life is perfect and people do age. This opened my eyes up to the real world. Up until my freshman year I never had to worry about anyone becoming too old in my family. Death had never even come to my mind for anyone close in my family. Once my grandma was diagnosed I had to start thinking about the possibilities of death. I became aware that she actually was becoming very old. This helped me mature mentally causing me to loose some of my childhood innocence as well. I was able to cherish moments with my grandma a lot more once I realized she wouldn’t be around forever. Not only was I able to cherish moments with my Grandma more, I was able to cherish everything in my life more. I realized that I too would not be around forever and I had to live my life to the fullest.
Kennedy Clark Purple
One rock and roll group of the early 60's and 70's that promotes rebellion and rebellious behavior for their followers would have to be Joan Jett and the Runaways. The Runaways were a group of young women who sang about rebellion,sex,drugs and rock and roll. Some of their songs such as Cherry Bomb talked about rebelling against your parents and teachers and basically telling the world to go to hell,because you're gonna do whatever you want. During that time I feel like a large group of American as well as international teens were drawn to them and their music because it was the era of WoodStock and the era of being who you are. It was sort of unusual for teens in the 50's and 60's to be rebellious. During the late 60's and 70's it became more and more common due to the influence of music and the war,which was around the time the group was popular.
One rock and roll group of the early 60's and 70's that promotes rebellion and rebellious behavior for their followers would have to be Joan Jett and the Runaways. The Runaways were a group of young women who sang about rebellion,sex,drugs and rock and roll. Some of their songs such as Cherry Bomb talked about rebelling against your parents and teachers and basically telling the world to go to hell,because you're gonna do whatever you want. During that time I feel like a large group of American as well as international teens were drawn to them and their music because it was the era of WoodStock and the era of being who you are. It was sort of unusual for teens in the 50's and 60's to be rebellious. During the late 60's and 70's it became more and more common due to the influence of music and the war,which was around the time the group was popular.
The first time I got a taste of the real world was when I started working with my father. He owns his own business and is one of the hardest working individuals I have ever seen. His business is selling hot tubs, pools, sheds, and swing sets. Basically, if you want something in your backyard, he has it. So for my first ever job I had to help deliver a hot tub. It was during the middle of the summer and it was scorching hot. We did the normal procedure of taking the tub off the trailer and onto some kind of plastic mat. The mat made it easier to move the hot tub around and it also protected the tub from scratches. As we made our way into the backyard, we found ourselves looking at a long staircase. Going down would be no problem, but bringing the old, waterlogged tub back up certainly would be. We made our way down the stone steps and placed the new tub on the side out of our way. Then we focused on the old tub. Since it had been out in the elements for so long, it gained a couple hundred pounds from being waterlogged. We attempted to just slide it up the steps without any kind of mat because it was so old my dad really didn’t care what happened to it. Unfortunately it didn’t work. I had basically given up at this point and just wanted to go home. I was drenched in sweat and football practice later in the day started looking worse and worse. My father noticed how I was not trying anymore and decided to teach me a lesson. He told me that things are never going to come easy in life, and when you hit a roadblock, you need to find a way to get around it. So he told me that we weren’t leaving until I found a way to get the tub from the backyard all the way up to the truck. I then put a plan into action. I took the mat from the other tub and put it under the old one. Then, I grabbed some PVC pipes and placed them on a couple steps. They would make it easier for the tub to roll. After that, I got on the back end and pushed while my dad pulled from the front. The tub practically glided up the stairs and once we reached the top I felt accomplished. I had acted like a kid and just gave up without putting in any real effort. After listening to my dad teach me a life lesson, I turned my attitude around. Whenever a problem arises in my life today, I try my hardest to put in all of my effort before giving up. I think my father taught me something very valuable that will help me throughout the rest of my life. He brought me a couple of steps out of my childhood innocence and into the real, adult world.
nOne artist who has hit the top of the music charts is Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis is an American hip hop duo formed in 2009, from Seattle, Washington. This music group sings pop/rap songs about problems in American society. One song in particular is "Same Love". The song focuses on gay and lesbian rights. Same sex rights has been a relatively modern topic in society. Macklemore's main intention is to spread awareness about how those who are homosexual are equal to every other person in the world. Both Mackemore and Ryan Lewis are married men with wives. However they both fight for equality among society.
A current artist whose songs promote meaningful thoughts, messages, and ideas is Carrie Underwood. An example of a song that promotes meaningful thoughts is “Temporary Home.” It’s told almost as a story starting with a boy who has been to many foster homes that he considers his temporary home until he finds the one for him. Next in the song are a single mom with her daughter who are trying to get their lives together with what they have but they know that where they are now is just temporary. Finally, the song ends with a man dying in the hospital who says that earth is his temporary home and heaven is where he belongs now. This song makes its listeners think long and hard about where they are in life. When going through a hard time it is just a bump in the road and eventually everyone will find their place in the world. One of Underwood’s songs that promote a meaningful message is “Crazy Dreams.” This song goes through lists of different personality types like “hair brush singers and dashboard drummers” and continues on about how person, regardless of their personality type, can have wild dreams that come true. In society today it is nice to have reminders that even the wildest of dreams are achievable with dedication and hard work even after being constantly knocked down. Finally, a song by Carrie Underwood that promotes a new idea is the song “Play On.” This song is about going through life, especially the tough times. It says to “play on because you’re always going to make mistakes” and that “it’s always worth the sacrifice even when you think you’re wrong.” These lyrics tell the listeners to always persevere and push through even when it feels like there is nothing left to help the situation. In the world of teenagers today it is easier for them to give up on things that don’t work out the first time instead of trying again or going a different route. This song promotes the “new” idea of perseverance and hard work in life which isn’t as common in teenagers today like it was in teenagers in past generations.
An incident in which I lost a little of my childhood would be receiving my driver’s license. I waited years to finally be able to get behind the wheel. I wanted that independence and freedom that so many had. Although I was nervous at first, I learned rather quickly and became a cautious driver. This experience changed everything. After the first six months of having my license, I was finally able to drive alone with little restrictions. I was able to go out by myself and did not have to depend on my parents. Although it was scarier than I had expected, I had to get used to being independent and doing things on my own. After I began driving by myself, I soon realized that being independent came with a price and decided it was a good time to begin looking for a job. Soon after, my friends helped me get a job and I got a real taste of what it was like being an adult in the real world. Although I am not completely independent, I try to do as much as I can by myself. Instead of relying on my parents to pay for my activities, such as going to the movies or shopping with friends, I can now pay for these expenses myself. Even though my parents are still my major financial supporters, it is nice to be able to help out. Overall, gaining my driver’s license has helped me to grow up and become a young, responsible adult.
A time when I lost a bit of my childhood innocence and learned the ropes of the real world was when I got my first job. My first job was being an after care worker at St. John the Beloved school. I got this job when I was a freshman in high school, so I was about fourteen years old. After I started working, I had to start organizing my time more so I could get all my school work done while going to work and fitting in some me time. I was eventually forced to learn that some days the only chance I could relax was when I would sleep. I had to learn that some days I couldn’t do what I wanted to do and I had to set my priorities and do what I had to do before I could do what I want to do. My first job also made me learn more about money and that I don’t have to spend it all right away. It was different than before I had a job because it was my money that I worked for and earned, not my parents’ money that they earned. This job also made me responsible for someone other than myself since I had to watch over about hundred kids and make sure that they got their homework done and didn't get hurt while playing outside. My first job helped me learn the ropes of the real world more than I thought it did as I’m looking back at it now.
I work at a store that my dad's friend owns, and they've been friends for a long time. I knew I had to work hard because he wouldn't just hire anyone. So I worked extremely hard the whole time I was there. When I went to the store one day I realized that the manager was on vacation. So the next that I was scheduled to work I came in like a half hour late, and it just so happened that my manager returned from her trip early. She gave me this extremely long lecture that told me when I have like a career job ,and I couldn't do that and that I had to work on time. This was so new to me because before I could talk my way out of almost every situation, or I could smile and apologize and I was free to go , or get my parents to help me. But my manager actually took money out of paycheck and I actually had to work an extra hour for no pay. And there was no way my parents were going to be able to get me out of this one.
Today, we have a lot of good musics, but it appears that there are more and more controversial musics. Some of these “bad” musics may be considered as harmful to teenagers. Although I am a teenager too, I see some bad effects of these musics. Despite most people may bash on rappers, who gain huge amount of profits while producing some low quality songs with provocative lyrics, I think some pop music stars have even worse and more serious affects on teenagers’ behavior. There are such many examples as Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Miley Cyrus. Miley Cyrus, who was once a star in Disney show “Hannah Montana”, turned to be scandalized after her enormous changes. Before she made her changes, Miley Cyrus was just a normal pop star who would not gain much attentions. After then, she changed herself into a totally new person, weird, fake, sexual, grandiloquent, and showy. Many of her music videos are inappropriate, and her personal figure is a bad role model for teenagers. Miley Cyrus did gain a lot of attentions after her changes, but her attention starved character also gets more criticism rather than praise. Many young teenager girls are reported as acting like “trashy” adults under the influence of Miley Cyrus. Most of the adult audiences may want to ask, "Miley, what exactly were you thinking?" "It's a damn shame that Miley is doing this to herself, making a vulgar joke out of her talents and her beauty, but it's a much bigger shame that she's doing it to her young fans and other young people (who) see her in the media," said Heidi Cardenas, a mom of two teenage boys, in response to a request for comment on CNN's Facebook page.
My faith life was average as a child. I went to church whenever my parents did, probably once a month. Then in fifth grade I went to a new school and I made new friends. It was odd in this school to go to church. So little by little I went to church even less each year and at the end of eighth grade I found myself going to church around Christmas time and Easter. This is what happens to many children. When children get older, they just start to do what is “Cool” and what all of the other kids do. So, religion starts to fade in everyone’s eyes, and for many people, become inexistent. As a child, my religious practices made me the person I am today. I am nice and I rarely get mad a people. Church taught me these values. Then society praises the wrong values by glorifying people who do the wrong thing. This includes people in music and many professional athletes. In music, the best example today is Miley Cyrus. People find her to be an inspiration and she does so many things that are wrong. Then people start to act like she does and society starts to lose all of their values. Instead, they choose to accept the easy values like looking good. Values like looking good have replaced the values like self-respect and dignity. Also, professional athletes are glorified for the wrong things. Many of the top of the line athletes do wrong things and get away with it because they are famous. This includes Ray Rice. He punched his wife in the face and nocked her out. Somehow, he got away without criminal charges. This shows society that if they are famous, they can get away with more than the average man could. To me, it has become apparent that as church involvement fades away, people lose their values and take the easy way.
My faith life was average as a child. I went to church whenever my parents did, probably once a month. Then in fifth grade I went to a new school and I made new friends. It was odd in this school to go to church. So little by little I went to church even less each year and at the end of eighth grade I found myself going to church around Christmas time and Easter. This is what happens to many children. When children get older, they just start to do what is “Cool” and what all of the other kids do. So, religion starts to fade in everyone’s eyes, and for many people, become inexistent. As a child, my religious practices made me the person I am today. I am nice and I rarely get mad a people. Church taught me these values. Then society praises the wrong values by glorifying people who do the wrong thing. This includes people in music and many professional athletes. In music, the best example today is Miley Cyrus. People find her to be an inspiration and she does so many things that are wrong. Then people start to act like she does and society starts to lose all of their values. Instead, they choose to accept the easy values like looking good. Values like looking good have replaced the values like self-respect and dignity. Also, professional athletes are glorified for the wrong things. Many of the top of the line athletes do wrong things and get away with it because they are famous. This includes Ray Rice. He punched his wife in the face and nocked her out. Somehow, he got away without criminal charges. This shows society that if they are famous, they can get away with more than the average man could. To me, it has become apparent that as church involvement fades away, people lose their values and take the easy way.
One event in my life which I lost some of my childhood innocence was when my parents had separated. It happened during the summer going into my freshman year. Until then, my parents seemed to be really happy together and seemed to love each other unconditionally. They had been married for 20 years and raised four children together. Then my dad moved out of our house and in with his friend and my parents fought all the time. I remember my mom being in her bedroom with the door closed screaming into the phone. My dad would try to come over to the house as much as possible and kept telling my brother and I how much he loved us and that even though he wasn’t living there that we were still important to him. Both of my parents seemed sad and that made me feel sad and I wanted to fix that, but couldn’t. I thought it was my fault but my mom kept telling me it wasn’t. Finally, in the fall, my dad moved back into the house and my parents were back together. Slowly, with time, my parents became that loving couple I saw when I was growing up. This shows that no marriage is ever perfect. People think that if their parents fight or if they separate they are automatically going to get a divorce. The sad fact is that the majority of the time their parents will get divorced. I’m extremely thankful my parents weren’t part of that stereotype and worked out their problems. People make mistakes in life. However, it also proves that even though times will get tough in marriages, or in general, the key is not giving up. That summer made me grow and become very mature for my age. It also taught me that no matter what to never give up on people.
As I have grown up, I have always been in Catholic schools from kindergarten to eighth grade in Christ the Teacher and then my high school years in St. Mark's. I have always been taught about the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. The more and more I learn about this, the less and less I believe all that I am taught. I do not doubt that Jesus is God, just most of the teachings that are claimed in the Bible. I am extremely skeptical about of the teachings. Also, I dislike how the church will establish a rule that was just made up by them. Who told them to do that? It certainly was not God. I do not like how the Church establishes their own rules. On the other hand, I am still born a Catholic, and I still believe in the core values even though the only time I attend mass is in school.
My faith is a very big part of my life. I have been attending a Catholic school ever since I was born. I went to a Catholic pre-school and grade school and now I go to St. Mark's. I attend mass at Holy Angels, my grade school, every Sunday. When I go to church, I feel at home. It blows my mind to think that our Lord could create all of the world and give it to us. During Lent, when I see the catechumens follow the Gospel out, I think how great of a decision they are making to believe in something so great. I have received Baptism, First Holy Communion, Reconciliation, and Confirmation. My turning point for my faith in God was when I went on my Confirmation retreat. The retreat opened my eyes because I was expecting us to go and pray all day long. But instead, we played games that involved trust and faith. They said you need to be able to trust and have faith in things you cannot see, which is God. Ever since then, I have prayed every day and talked to God. These great sacraments and many experiences at church have only strengthened my faith in God. I can honestly say I have no idea what I would do without my faith. It is the one thing I am 100 percent sure about in my life. My faith has made be such a better person and I am so thankful for that.
I was never someone who would look forward to growing up. I thought that being a kid was the absolute greatest thing because there are practically no worries in life and I could get away with almost everything. I did not have to worry about having a job to make money or getting into college, I simply just lived to have fun. Although I lived my childhood to the best of my ability I knew that one day all great things would come to an end. In one single day, I lost some of my innocence and went from childhood to adulthood.
The winter of 2010 was one that I would never forget. Delaware was getting constantly slammed with snow and we had a snow day nearly every week. Snow days were very important to me because I knew that it gave me the opportunity to shovel some driveways and make some money. One morning I woke up to a phone call from my middle school telling me that I was off of school due to getting two feet of snow. I immediately got my snow clothes on and went to shovel driveways by myself with only a shovel. I walked from house to house asking if they wanted their drive way shoveled. Some houses wanted me to shovel their driveway and others did not. As I walked from door to door in the deep, heavy and wet snow, I came to a house in the very back of my neighborhood. I knocked on their door, they told me they would pay me twenty-five dollars to shovel their driveway, and I began to shovel. After two hours of exhausting shoveling I realized I was finished and went to the door to receive my money. I knocked on the door and rang the doorbell multiple times and no one would answer the door. I waited outside for fifteen minutes and no one was coming. I knew they did not leave the house and that they simply were blowing me off. I had never been in a situation like this before and at the time I did not have a cell phone yet so I knew I had to make a decision right then and there. After waiting for another ten minutes I understood that they were just ignoring me. I was very upset because I worked very hard on their driveway and I now had no reward for it. I finally had enough waiting and decided to get them back for doing this to me. I went back to their driveway and started throwing all the snow back onto their driveway. I covered their whole driveway with snow and put nearly four feet of snow right in front of their front door. At the time I thought I was doing the right thing, but now that I look back at the situation I should have just forgave them and walked away.
This moment brought me into adulthood because I finally was able to understand what the real world is like and how I am going to have to overcome challenges and situations that are not just given to me through sports. Connie came to adulthood by making the decision to walk out of the house and I believe I came to adulthood by making the decision to cover their drive way again with snow
When I was five years old, one of the scariest experiences of my life occurred. I was at a shopping mall in New York City with my parents and my brother, looking at some toys. I remember specifically looking at a Star Wars toy that had just come out. When I turned around, I was surprised to see my parents were no longer there. I looked around the store and my surprise quickly turned into fear. My parents were nowhere in sight; I was alone in a huge mall.
Like all five year olds, my first natural inclination was to cry – which I did. Eventually, I gathered the strength to walk up to the cashier, still crying. She was very helpful and called over the intercom at the mall for my parents to come back to the store to get me. When my parents returned, they explained to me that they each thought the other had me with them and that is why they left. As one might expect, this explanation did little to comfort me. I was furious that I had been left alone not only in a huge mall, but a huge city that I didn’t know.
That day, I believe I lost a little bit of my childhood innocence. Looking back, it may seem silly – being lost in a mall for a few minutes doesn’t seem like a remarkable experience .But I think the reason why I still remember every detail from that day is because for the first time in my life, I was alone.
Since I was six years old, I have been flying as anunaccompanied minor from St. Louis to Chicago to see my father. From that ageuntil twelve, I wore a blue sleeve around my neck and pre-boarded every flight.The flight attendant helped me with my bags and my parents could walk me downthe jet-way. Through out the flight, the attendants would check on me multipletimes to make sure I was doing okay. I was the first one off of the plane whenwe landed,and I was greeted by my father at the gate. One day I flew from St.Louis to Chicago for the first time without being an unaccompanied minor as I was now 13. The flight was in mid April which tends to be a stormy month in the Midwest. It was an extremely turbulent flight and I was very scared. The flight attendants were not allowed to get up at all during that flight and around thetime they would be walking through one last time to collect trash, they made anannouncement. I will never forget Princess words, (I had had her many times asa flight attendant) "ladies and gentlemen, due to extreme wind gusts andviolent storms below us, we will be diverted to Indianapolis." At that moment I was panicked. The flight attendants were no longer required to make sure myfather was there to get me and I had no clue what I was going to do. After avery long 30 minutes, we landed in Indiana. I immediately called my dad and hehad already heard the news. He tried to calm me down and told me he was on hisway, but that I had to take a taxi to meet him halfway. I reluctantly walkedoff the plane, down to baggage, and out to the parking garage to get a taxi. Icalled my dad and gave the man my phone to talk to him. We got in the car andmet my dad about an hour away. This experience caused me to loose some of mychildhood innocence and I was introduced to the real world. There was no onethere to hold my hand and walk me through each step. I had to be mature andfind my way around an unknown airport. Everything turned out okay and it gaveme experience in case that were to ever happen again.
Since I was six years old, I have been flying as anunaccompanied minor from St. Louis to Chicago to see my father. From that ageuntil twelve, I wore a blue sleeve around my neck and pre-boarded every flight.The flight attendant helped me with my bags and my parents could walk me downthe jet-way. Through out the flight, the attendants would check on me multipletimes to make sure I was doing okay. I was the first one off of the plane whenwe landed,and I was greeted by my father at the gate. One day I flew from St.Louis to Chicago for the first time without being an unaccompanied minor as I was now 13. The flight was in mid April which tends to be a stormy month in the Midwest. It was an extremely turbulent flight and I was very scared. The flight attendants were not allowed to get up at all during that flight and around thetime they would be walking through one last time to collect trash, they made anannouncement. I will never forget Princess words, (I had had her many times asa flight attendant) "ladies and gentlemen, due to extreme wind gusts andviolent storms below us, we will be diverted to Indianapolis." At that moment I was panicked. The flight attendants were no longer required to make sure myfather was there to get me and I had no clue what I was going to do. After avery long 30 minutes, we landed in Indiana. I immediately called my dad and hehad already heard the news. He tried to calm me down and told me he was on hisway, but that I had to take a taxi to meet him halfway. I reluctantly walkedoff the plane, down to baggage, and out to the parking garage to get a taxi. Icalled my dad and gave the man my phone to talk to him. We got in the car andmet my dad about an hour away. This experience caused me to loose some of my childhood innocence and I was introduced to the real world. There was no one there to hold my hand and walk me through each step. I had to be mature and find my way around an unknown airport. Everything turned out okay and it gave me experience in case that were to ever happen again.
Today, we have a lot of good musics, but it appears that there are more and more controversial
musics. Some of these “bad” musics may be considered as harmful to teenagers. Although I
am a teenager too, I see some bad effects of these musics. Despite most people may bash on
rappers, who gain huge amount of profits while producing some low quality songs with provocative
lyrics, I think some pop music stars have even worse and more serious affects on teenagers’
behavior. There are such many examples as Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Miley Cyrus. Miley
Cyrus, who was once a star in Disney show “Hannah Montana”, turned to be scandalized after
her enormous changes. Before she made her changes, Miley Cyrus was just a normal pop star
who would not gain much attentions. After then, she changed herself into a totally new person,
weird, fake, sexual, grandiloquent, and showy. Many of her music videos are inappropriate, and
her personal figure is a bad role model for teenagers. Miley Cyrus did gain a lot of attentions after
her changes, but her attention starved character also gets more criticism rather than praise. Many
young teenager girls are reported as acting like “trashy” adults under the influence of Miley Cyrus.
Most of the adult audiences may want to ask, "Miley, what exactly were you thinking?" "It's a damn
shame that Miley is doing this to herself, making a vulgar joke out of her talents and her beauty,
but it's a much bigger shame that she's doing it to her young fans and other young people (who)
see her in the media," said Heidi Cardenas, a mom of two teenage boys, in response to a request
for comment on CNN's Facebook page.
When I was around nine years old, my grandfather on my mothers side was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At the time, I did not really understand his illness other than the routine visits to the hospital every week or so to check on him. After a year long battle with his cancer, my pop pop passed away in January of 2006. At the funeral, I didn't cry. Everyone else did but he and I were never very close so I didn't see a reason to. It was not until the lowering of the casket that I realized I would never see my grandfather again. It was then that I started to sob. Not only at the death of my pop pop but also at the realization that no one can live forever. It was at that moment, that I believe I lost a portion of my childhood innocence.
The loss of childhood comes at different times for everyone who experiences it. It could be as simple as learning how to cook on your own or it could take an entire lifetime to accomplish. My loss of childhood occurred when I had to start working. I have had three jobs so far in my life and I have quit just one of them. When you start working, it isn't like high school anymore, the managers won't remind you to keep doing things or to stay focused. Most of the people I worked with didn't even know I was still in high school. They treated me like an adult because in that setting, I had to act like one. I had responsibilities and tasks to accomplish and people's actual happiness and opinion of the store rested in my hands. Working puts life into perspective, things will never be fair for anyone and you need to work hard no matter what it is you are doing. Working showed me that it is rare to be treated fairly and that nobody cares if you are younger, if you have that job you should be capable of accomplishing tasks. Another thing that showed me a loss of childhood was when I had to start buying things I wanted with my own money. I worked hard hours and didn't have that much money to show for it. I wanted to always use it and it amazed me how people saved money. The task of managing money, which I now have to deal with a little bit, showed me a true loss of childhood. Being young is beautiful. Innocence and ignorance are things that I wish I could have back into my life. Ignorance of money and every issue that comes with it. The loss of childhood was brought to me by the gift of responsibility and money managment.
Nahko Bear and Medicine for the People is a music group that was brought to my attention about three weeks ago. The first sing-along song I listened to was “Aloha Ke Akua” which immediately uplifted me with it’s powerful, energetic, and positive lyrics. A stanza from this song that raises my vibrations and resonates with me goes like this, “I am a miracle made up of particles and in this existence, I’ll stay persistent, and I’ll make a difference and I will have lived it.” Nahko Bear and Medicine for the People produce conscious music to live, love, and expand with. That is exactly what it has done for me. So many of their refreshing songs have created extra space in my mind, to think differently about myself and the world I am thriving in.Their goal is to share music that increases happiness and self-awareness through the most spiritual, inspiring songs currently out there. As Nahko himself says, “Medicine for the People is less a band and more a social movement.” Songs are written with truth and clarity, and I believe all sorts of people can connect to their music in some way. Whenever I just need to chill-out or am in need of a brain invigorator, I’ll listen to any of their songs. Especially “So Thankful,” which shows how it is possible for gratitude to arise from pain and anguish. It’s about giving as much as you can to others no matter what has happened to you, and who has wronged you. A majority of the songs that are being written today don’t reveal true meaning, or anything that will truly guide a person in a positive direction. Often, songs are written about meaningless and offensive issues. But, Nahko and Medicine for the People is completely different and incomparable to anything else. I find that their joyful music increases my spirituality and self-awareness, and these two are so essential to my life.
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