A Realization

The school year has just ended and my college career is about 50 percent done. I've learned life lessons outside of the classroom and learned lessons within them to carry with them.

A big lesson that I've learned and dealt with this past year is that in general we're all naturally self-centered people. Most of what we do is serve ourselves, if you really look at the motives behind much of what we do. When our friends say something great that happened to them recently, we try to top their story with one of our own to show . Or, when we fail to focus on our friends when we should. Often times, we don't give the people around us the attention that they deserve. It's difficult to put everything down when you have so much on the plate in front of you to look at the plate of someone else's. It's especially difficult for me, since when I become focused on something, it's very hard to pull me away from that.

I suppose part of this realization is me maturing and trying to understand others. I know that this is a life-long quest to truly be respectful of others by giving them the attention deserve, so why not start now and hopefully become real good when I'm at a ripe old age?

So I suppose I'll make my little how-to guide to follow:
1) Stop.
2) Listen.
3) Understand.
4) Speak.

Music and Passion

Photo by John Vettese

Just this past week, I got the chance to see Jonsi, the singer of Sigur Ros, perform his solo album. It was simply amazing. They performed their music and had an amazing visual show to go along with it. Despite the fact that this tour was to promote his solo album, this concert was not about themselves, but about the music they were playing. Throughout the concert, numerous people cried and laughed. It's just an amazing thing what music can do to people.

I have never seen musicians so passionate about music before. Each of them looked like they were having so much fun playing music. At one point during the concert, I saw the bassist look at the drummer, smile, and then look back at his instrument and smile again. At times, my mouth would just be hanging wide open and I wouldn't realize till a few minutes or maybe ten minutes later when it was dry. Something on stage would happen and you'd feel a surge of joy rise in your heart, or pangs of sadness. This is what music should be; something that performers and concert-goers can enjoy together. It should not be just something created for economic reasons, rather something created that can be enjoyed by everyone. It was something so surreal, so many people in the same room experiencing the same emotions conveyed.


At the end of the concert, the band applauded the audience for coming along on this musical journey. I must say this was a trip for everyone that was there. It was amazing. I hope other concerts are like this. As I stood in the concert, I realized if I were to make music or do anything, I'd want it to be something that everyone can take in and enjoy.

Photo by Alan Michael Goldberg