I won’t get into a long drawn out blog post about my feelings on church, religion, faith, etc. (I’ve done that before in previous posts), but I will express as I sit here on Easter Sunday morning, I know that I am truly blessed. And while I’m not always a fan of the more “traditional” church hymns, this one never gets old, especially when two of my favorite musical artists cover the hymn.
“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
Covered by Mumford & Songs
Covered by Sufjan Stevens
I was blown away the first time I saw Wicked. It’s one of those musicals that can stick with you like gum in your hair. I immediately purchased the soundtrack and listened to it on repeat for days. And while the entire soundtrack is amazing, I just adore “As Long As Your Mine”. Perhaps it’s the romantic in me, but I think it’s just an incredibly sad, beautiful, hopeful song. If you’ve never seen the musical, please do.
This is the original version featuring Idina Menzel & Norbert Leo Butz.
Around the holidays I tend to think of family. It’s a least a time when I’m guaranteed we are generally all together, even if that has become a little more difficult in recent months.
When my mom passed away, one of the priests from our church came to our house to help us plan the funeral mass. I was really involved in our church and I knew there were certain things I did NOT want happening. One of which was that I didn’t want the traditional funeral church hymns such as ”On Eagles’ Wings -- I HATE that song.
The closing song was very non-traditional. My dad picked it out. He chose the song “Something In The Way She Moves” by James Taylor. I often listen to it when I need to calm myself or take a few minutes to think about my mom. 16 Years later, this is the one for sure thing that reminds me of here.
A Bonus for James Taylor for sounding the same after all these years, which is utterly amazing.
No real story here, except that I LOVE music from the 80′s. It’s almost unhealthy. But if you were to ever ask me what my favorite music video was (because we have these conversations all the time right?)…it would be A-Ha’s “Take On Me”.
The other day as I sifted through mail post-ACPA, I discovered a “Save the Date” from my friend Jenny. It’s actually been a while since I’ve seen her but it was so fantastic to know that I was being invited to her wedding. She moved to Buffalo a few years ago to become a Youth Minister. We met through the youth group at the church I went to, and together we were on the planning team. We became instant friends and often talked about going on adventures around the world. We would email each stories on a daily basis about things happening in our day or future trips we wanted to take. We dubbed them “The Chronicles” and we would go back and read them when we needed a “pick me up.”
One of our favorite movies was (and still is) “Garden State”. And in one particular scene, Natalie Portman’s character tells Zach Braff’s character to listen to a song and she says “It will change your life, I swear.” That motivated our Life Soundtrack project, which is the one I wrote about in the first post of this series. So in honor of my dear friend Jenny,
This is Jenny:
And this is song #4 -- New Slang by The Shins -- in honor of my friendship with her over the past 6 years.
This past Sunday I was present at our Distinguished Leaders Conference. It’s focused on our Junior & Senior students, and focuses on life after graduation. Programs on interviewing, graduate school, branding, etc. are provided for the students throughout the day. This year, the students in charge invited a Business Professor from our campus to speak as the keynote. His name is Param Srikantia. The students simply refer to him as Param.
At this point, I had heard a lot about Param, but never had the opportunity to hear him speak. So I settled in to listen to a professor the students rave about and found myself excitedly tweeting out almost every word that came out of his mouth in an effort to make sure other people could experience it too. I was almost in this frantic mindset of tweeting content, reflecting, absorbing, and laughing at his jokes, that it was hard to believe I didn’t suffer from exhaustion by the end of his 30 minute keynote. So many things stood out from what he had to say, but I’ve spent some time reflecting on this thought:
I thought about how often I struggle with my own inner being. Probably daily. And it’s not in a “Whoa is me, my life isn’t good.” type struggle. That’s not the type of person that I am. But I think it is the inner thoughts that try and direct us in a way that makes sense. At least perhaps in the way we think it makes sense. I feel like sometimes I try and “work on” my inner being, like it’s an actual little person inside of me. I try to do yoga. I enjoy the part where I can just lay on my mat and stare at the ceiling, focusing on my breathing. I sometimes think that helps me focus on my “inner being.” Or this year I started going to weekly lunch meetings called “Soul Work” -- started a few years ago by one of my favorite faculty members in the religion department. So that’s working on my “inner being”, right? I haven’t a clue.
So I sat listening to Param, thinking about my “inner being” almost like that movie “Innerspace” with Dennis Quaid and Martin Short. But in that situation, Dennis Quaid was literally shrunk down and INSIDE Martin Short. I tried to imagine what it would be like to have an actual miniaturized person in me, but that just freaked me out. Then Param said:
Ahhh, so that’s what that thing is. My little, pain in the ass, internal condemner. The one that sometimes makes me question the things I may say or do. My ability to do my job. Wondering if I made the right decision. Does that belt match my shoes alright? Does that man want to date me? Questioning the things that may come out of my mouth. And then I am reminded of something my friend, colleague, mentor, etc. Ed Cabellon told me at ACPA12 , when he leaned over to say “Don’t ever doubt your voice.”
So with that in mind, it’s time to punch my internal condemner in the face. It’s understanding my own abilities and strengths and using them to their fullest potential. Learning how to not be content with the status quo of every day life. To push myself beyond capacity (in a positive, non-exhaustive kind of way of course).
In the movie “Innerspace”, Dennis Quaid develops a positive relationship with Martin Short, and at one point the bad guy also ends up tiny and fighting Dennis. They battle it out (and not to ruin the ending), Dennis kicks some major ass. With the help of Martin Short’s acid reflux problem. But that’s another story. So really, that relationship with my inner self can be a positive one. One that focuses on the intellectual, beautiful soul part of who I am and when needed, is around to punch my inner critic in the face, just like I do to my external condemners. Not generally in the literal sense, but more the figurative “I’m punching you in the face right now with my stern face.” kind of way.
And as a side note, a clip from “Innerspace” -- It’s the nerdiest romantic comedy out there. Total first date material. 
You can’t go wrong with this movie, or any song by Sam Cooke.
I took my younger brother to his first concert when he was in 8th grade. I was a Senior in College. I invited he and his friend to come up for the night, go to the concert, and spend the night in my room. I was an RA and had a ridiculous amount of space available for the two of them. My brother and I still talk about that day and he said he was so excited to come to a college campus and see one of his favorite bands. It was a bonding experience for us that was rare after I moved on campus but it’s still one of the best memories I have with my brother. The funny part of the night was that most people only knew the one song Filter had released at the time “Take a Picture” and didn’t really know the other songs, so needless to say they were quite surprised and the style and loudness. My seeing the expression on my brother’s face as he enjoyed the crap out of that concert was totally worth losing hearing for a few hours afterwards.
It’s been incredible to have him in my life for the past 28 years. So #3 is a double feature with 2 songs I enjoy by Filter.
Take a Picture:
AND
Hey Man, Nice Shot
My dad is pretty darn cool. Obviously, I didn’t always think this way. Mainly during my angsty, teenage, rebellious years. (yes, even a big rule follower like me was a bit rebellious at one time) But as I have grown older and more mature (most of the time), I’ve come to find out that my dad is one heck of a guy. He is a ridiculously corny joke teller. Any time we are at the bar -- yes I go to the bar with my dad -- he’s always up for telling a new joke or two. He’s a Snoopy fanatic. He’s an avid golfer and loves to drive his new mustang convertable (with the Snoopy ornament hanging from the rearview mirror). He loves to karaoke. He smokes cigars and drinks scotch and when I’m with him I’ll sometimes do the same. In high school, my friends were all afraid of him (yep, all 5’6″ of him). And if you put us next to each other you’d have no doubt in your mind that I am his daughter. When my mom passed away, I was forced to get to know this man because he was all I had left and while I’d love to have my mom back, I wouldn’t trade my relationship with my dad for anything. He makes me laugh. Gives the best hugs. And is always up for hitting the dance floor. So as I approach my 34th birthday I thank my dad for his role in the whole thing and dedicate to him one of his favorite songs to dance to -- “You Can Call Me Al” by Paul Simon.
In 15 days I’ll be turning 34. It feels really weird to think about that because most days I don’t feel like I’m 34. Then again, is 34 supposed to feel a certain way? Probably not.
Every year, as my birthday approaches, I get a little reflective on what my life as been like up until this point, and what could possibly happen in the future. I try not to make a lot of big ideal plans for the next year of my life, just like I don’t usually come up with grandiose resolutions around New Years. Even my one word resolution this year was a big, old mess 4 days into 2012. But tonight as I was driving home, I thought I could do something fun for the month of April, and it would also be reflective -- which is something I enjoy being able to do. So each day this month I’ll be posting a new snippet into the life of me, including a song that deals with that snippet (since I love music & feel it relates to so many things). You can check back and see what I’ve decided to share each day if you’d like, otherwise I’m looking forward to just doing it for myself. About 10 years ago my friend and I made “Life Soundtracks” so this will be just my life soundtrack in blog form.
#1 -- I’m heading back to high school for this one. I was on our prom committee. Looking back on high school, it’s not something I would ever wish to repeat. I was an average kid with a good group of friends, but no where near what was considered the most popular. I was probably a cross between Kady and Janice in Mean Girls (before Kady went all plastic for a bit there). So when it came time for prom theme voting, my friend and I were outvoted, and we ended up with the theme “Almost Paradise.” blah. Typical Prom theme. We had hoped for “Just Like Heaven” because we loved that song by The Cure. We figured we’d at least put it on the playlist for the DJ.
However, during a post-dinner trip to the ladies room (in a group of course), it turned out the DJ did play the song but we were all in the bathroom and never heard it. I was disappointed, but it turns out that I took a pretty great guy to my prom (he went to a different school). So the end of the night came along, and my date ran to his car ahead of me. I was pretty confused. He started up the car, and immediately “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure came blasting through his speakers. He came over to me and danced with me in the parking lot. It was like my very own John Hughes movie moment. (Which I had always wanted by the way.)
So in honor of my approaching 34th Birthday, I have chosen this song to play as a reflection on one of the better moments in my high school experience.
I felt as though there was a theme running through parts of the ACPA Convention this year. Storytelling. How do we utilize storytelling to enhance what we do. Closing Speaker, Lisa Ling, is probably one of the best storytellers I can imagine at this point. Becca Obergefell summed up Lisa’s presence in one tweet that was right on point:
Lisa Ling’s story inspired me to want to be better in what I was doing. To share more stories. We don’t seem to focus much on storytelling in our lives. I think back to a time when that’s the only way we were able to pass things down to others. Through our stories.
It reminded me of my experience in Cherokee, NC when I advise a student service trip and beyond some of the manual labor type service we did, most of the trip was focused on understanding cultural issues, specifically of the people in Cherokee. One of our experiences was going to a sweat lodge at the home of a member of the community. We were to call him “The General” and he was a proud, strong looking man and he welcomed us fully into his home. He took us down a hill to part of the property that immediately felt important, special – sacred really. We were about to experience a moment that would focus on our cleansing – spiritually, emotionally, physically. As we listen to him speak to us, you were in awe of his presence. It was a special place.
Then one of my students asked if he could take a picture. The General said no. Then he said “Don’t you want to know why I said no?” and my student answered “yes.” The General went on to explain the following: He told us that if we take a picture, we will take that back home and show it to someone, and then that’s where the story will end. They will look at the photo, come to a conclusion and be done with the experience. But, if you sit down and tell a person about your experience, they are able to create their own mental picture of your words and implant themselves in the experience, therefore identifying and relating more to what you experienced.
Well shoot. We were just “owned” by the General.
Lisa Ling’s closing stories, caused me to think a lot about my own stories. At one point Becca also pointed out that one of Lisa’s stories was ridiculously similar to one of my own. I had recognized that as well, and took a moment to absorb her words into my brain, finding resolve in hearing someone else who has experience the same thoughts, fears, and confusion. But that is exactly why we should be telling our stories. They are our stories. Our experiences. But sometimes, without knowing it, our stories can resonate with another person and change their life, their perspective, their mindset…anything.
