This song was ahead of its time and is still so relevant to the world we live in today. You can find the video here: It's a good video... you should watch it.
The lyrics touch on so many things that I want to learn to apply in my life. I'm showing great improvement in many areas, but I have miles and miles to go before I can consider myself solid in this area. One day at a time and one step at a time. That is simply all I can do. And I can educate those around me.
Those who know me are very aware that I am so interested in learning and experiencing cultures outside of the United States. We, as Americans, are very fortunate and I completely respect some of the values we represent and freedoms that we have. I, however, am not going to turn this into a political post. That's not my thing at all, so I'm going to avoid that fire.
What I want to focus on is what is relevant to me and my journey of happiness and health. And I am going to reference lyric sets to support that and then apply it to my continued growth in 2017. So, let's get to it...
"But if you only have love for your own race, then you only leave space to discriminate. And to discriminate only generates hate."
Do I really need to say anything more after that? I am not a person that judges others based on the color of their skin or their preferred religious practice, etc. My experience in graduate school took us through a diversity class and cultural competency was reinforced throughout the entire program. I wish that everyone had to experience those classes just to be a productive member of society. I will be the first to admit that I never really put a lot of thought behind cultural competency... I knew I wanted to experience different cultures, but to be competent is a whole other area. I also learned about the power of "white privilege" and that was a very eye-opening experience for me.
In what way does discrimination benefit anyone? Tell me, please. You are no better than me and I am no better than you. I am no better than the man flipping burgers at McDonald's trying to earn a paycheck to feed his family. I may have had some different opportunities cross my path, but that does not make me better in any way. "To discriminate only generates hate" is such a powerful statement in itself. It's so true! Discriminating against people because of their skin color, their selection in brands of clothing, the amount of money they make, their religious background (or lack thereof), or their weight, height, eye color, etc... What is the damn point? It literally will only bring hate. And, as I've said before, you have NO idea what another person is going through, so it is completely unfair to judge someone without taking the opportunity to know them.
"Children hurt, can you hear them cryin'? Can you practice what you preach? Or would you turn the other cheek?"
This one sits really heavily with me, especially after starting my internship. It is literally my job to work with children who are in pain. I have gained some tremendous growth from my position within this organization and I am absolutely a HUGE advocate for listening to the little ones. They don't often have the ability to use words to clearly express how they feel, so through behaviors and actions, those feelings can come out. You just have to be open to seeing them and listening to them. More often than not, they are telling you so much more than you know.
The amount of pain in this world astounds me. That's not something I want to dive deep into either because I could talk for days and I don't want to do that. I imagine it'll come up in future entries, but for now, I just want to acknowledge that the amount of pain that exists in this world is unfathomable to me. I'm not just focused on children when I say this, I mean all ages. Hidden pain can be the worst and lead into future mental health concerns. So, I beg of you, BE THE CHANGE. You cannot stand by and just hope that the person next to you is going to do something. YOU do something.
That said, because of my clients of all ages, I cannot fathom sitting with them in a room and challenging them to do something outside their comfort zones if I am not willing to do the same. This year, especially, I have challenged myself to practice what I preach. If I preach self-care to my clients or my friends, then I damn sure better be willing to practice self-care for myself. If I preach about ways to utilize coping skills to avoid angry outbursts, I want to practice those techniques myself. My clients teach me SO much about myself and I think that it is incredibly important to take those lessons and apply them in my daily routine. I also feel like, if I'm practicing it, I can, with confidence, encourage my clients or my friends to do the same. Does that make sense?
"Wrong information always shown by the media. Negative images, it's the main criteria, infecting the young minds faster than bacteria. Kids want to act like what they see in the cinema."
I don't feel like this merits a ton of follow up. It is quite obvious that media presents things in such a way that it focuses solely on the negativity. There are as many sides to each story as the amount of people involved, but the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I absolutely LOVE movies and music and I clearly use Facebook, but I make it a choice to delete the negativity if it comes across my newsfeed. In fact, I typically delete the person as a whole if it is a constant loop of negativity. I don't need that shit in my life. Movies definitely affect our youth, but it's also up to the educational system, their home lives, society's representation of these movies, and the youth themselves to understand that movies are not reality! Even the ones based on true stories have shit added to keep the viewer interested. I absolutely LOVE Transformers... I bought myself a yellow Camaro... But I do not expect that yellow Camaro to wake up at night and defeat Megatron as a lay sleeping. I could provide countless examples, but you get the idea.
I realize this entry got fairly deep and I do not mean to offend anyone. Please remember this is only MY story and I can only speak from MY perspective... I am going to end with a set of lyrics that are incredibly powerful. Soak it in.
"Whatever happened to the values of humanity? Whatever happened to the fairness and equality? Instead of spreading love, we're spreading animosity. Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity."
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