Monday, February 28, 2005

procrastination

ya, so I'm procrastinating BIG TIME!! I have this 3-5 page paper due for my Domestic Violence class where I have to summarize/critique an empirical study.....

it's not that bad, a 3-5 page paper...actually. seeing as i only have one quarter left after this one 'till i get my associates....a 3-5 page paper is damn easy by now! what is my problem!! it's 12:11am....

i should just go to bed already....i'm not getting any work done. who am I trying to kid anyway, lately i always wait until the night before something's due and stay up 'till the wee hours of the night working on it....why do I do that?!?!

ok, for real....i'm going to bed, this is ridiculous procrastination....out of control!

wow, this is bad!

Monday, February 21, 2005

desperation

This song, although written about a dating relationship and not something I've experienced directly, means a lot of different things to me...

If you can, buy the song and listen to it. Maria Mena sings with such emotion that you're transported immediately into another world. A very sad, desperate world. A world that in some form we've all experienced at some time or another. Maybe not in a relationship with a boyfriend like Maria, but maybe in other relationships. At least I know I have....

Vague sound of rain
pierces through my song again
but I get distracted by the way his toes move when he plays
so I let it burn

I just poured my heart out
there's bits of it on the floor
And I take what's left of it and rinse it under cold water
And call him up for more

I've done this before....where I'll take a chance; I'll pour my heart out to someone. Not quite sure if I should. Never quite sure that I've not just made a fool of myself and wondering if I'm the only one on the planet that feels this way. I really must be crazy....and then you jump, you pour it out anyway. Hoping upon hope for the person really to hear you....and then it happens. The person listens but doesn't hear you and your words fall on deaf ears.....it's a terrible feeling. Being open and vulnerable and then having either your feelings trampled on, minimized or any other multitude of responses other than....being really heard and understood. Identified with. Validated.

And I say baby, yes I feel stupid to call you, but I'm lonely
And I don't think you meant it when you said you couldn't love me
And I thought maybe if I kissed the way you do, you'd feel it too

But then again, no matter how hard the drop of your last experience, you try again. Maybe with the same person, maybe with someone else, someone new. Doesn't really matter, you're trying again and you feel stupid again for exposing your feelings and your confused as to why you can't connect.....It's like this incessant need to connect, to feel whole, to have someone validate you and make you whole.

He said I'm sorry
so sorry
I'm sorry
so sorry

He grabs my wrists
as my fingers turn into angry fists
and I wisper why can't you love me, I'll change for you
I'll play the part

It's quite a mystery to me why I try and change for people. I really do. Of course I don't like to admit it but it's the truth. I'm a chameleon.

He said I'm sorry
so sorry
I'm sorry
I am sorry

Why is it that people need to feel validated by other people in order to feel complete, whole and a normal person? I love Don Miller's explanation of it in his book "Searching for God Knows What." Chapter 7 entitled "Adam, Eve, and the Alien: How the Fall Makes You Feel," really sheds light on this for me. Actually the entire books speaks on this issue.

I don't know why but it was such a big deal for me when I realized that the desperation we feel, particularly for me in regards to this song, is due to The Fall in the Garden of Eden. It's due to our separation from God. It's a hole that only God can fill. He made us to be relational people.....that is why we crave human connection, understanding, validation. That's why we are desperate to change when we don't "fit in." Because we feel we need to be connected. God created other people partly for this reason but he also had more for us. This "more" was a relationship with Him. We will never be truly whole with the validation of others. It means nothing. It's the validation of Christ that will make us whole. A relationship with Christ.

The desperation that speaks to me so much in this song is a byproduct of my broken self...separated from God.

Friday, February 18, 2005

not perfect; but free

free
This is how I felt growing up.....

Sometimes is never quite enough
If you're flawless, then you'll win my love
Don't forget to win first place
Don't forget to keep that smile on your face

Be a good boy
Try a little harder
You've got to measure up
And make me prouder

How long before you screw it up
How many times do I have to tell you to hurry up
With everything I do for you
The least you can do is keep quiet

Be a good girl
You've gotta try a little harder
That simply wasn't good enough
To make us proud

I'll live through you
I'll make you what I never was
If you're the best, then maybe so am I
Compared to him compared to her
I'm doing this for your own damn good
You'll make up for what I blew
What's the problem...why are you crying

Be a good boy
Push a little farther now
That wasn't fast enough
To make us happy
We'll love you just the way you are
If you're perfect
Alanis Morissette
alanis


But this is how I choose to feel now that I've learned to trust Him in everything.....he has a plan and it doesn't matter if I know what it is or not. There is a reason for everything and there is freedom in that. I'm "Free from worry, free from envy and denial, free to live, free to give and free to smile." There is incredible freedom to be had when you learn that your experiences in life don't have to get you down and this song is a testament of that fact for me. I play it whenever I need encouragement.

Turning molehills into mountains
Making big deals out of small ones
Bearing gifts as if they’re burdens
This is how it’s been

Fear of coming out of my shell
Too many things I can’t do too well
Afraid I’ll try real hard, and I’ll fail
This is how it’s been

Till the day you pounded on my heart’s door
And you shouted joyfully
“You’re not a slave anymore.”

You’re free to dance
Forget about your two left feet
And you’re free to sing
Even joyful noise is music to me
And you’re free to love
Cause I’ve given you my love and it’s made you free
I have set you free

My mind finds hard to believe
That you'd become humanity
And change the course of history
Because you loved me so
And my heart cannot understand
Why you’d accept me as I am
But you say you’ve always had a plan
And that’s all I need to know
So when I am consumed by what the world will say
It’s then you’re singing to me
As you remove my chains

Free from worry
Free from envy and denial
Free to live
Free to give
Free to smile
Ginny Owens
Without Condition