So... I was sitting here minding my own business and on comes Alanis Morissette on the tele (British for tv- LOL!) [oh I feel a funny, silly mood coming on- warning, warning!] ... you know she had all that great depressing music out in the mid 90s... all the whilst I was going through my divorce. ~ I must add.No but seriously, as depressing her music may have been... Hold the bus! let's stop the bus here! ... Maybe "depressing" isn't the most positive description of her music... "Life" is a better description, that's if we can use "Life" as an adjective.
So... Alanis comes on. She looks awesome by the way, a little more grown up, but looks great! Come to find out that besides having a life, she is a postpartum depression survivor and maybe that's why we really haven't heard all that much from her- well maybe not as much as some may have wanted. Keep moving forward Alanis!!
Sorry about that A.D.D. moment there, but allow me to get back to my point... lol!! I am cracking myself up right now! [I did warn you, right?]
Well I had an epiphany! I can not tell you how many times I have listened to that song since its release in the summer of 1996... and I FINALLY GOT IT!!
You see I had been listening to that song when I had been depressed, always listening to it the same way... from the same darkness in my heart. {and} always with the same ending result... my crying.
I don't know. I guess I really never really "listened" to the lyrics. I would hear the first line, and the words
"... I recommend getting your heart trampled on to anyone..."
and I would start thinking about everything wrong in my life and ball my eyes out for the remainder of the song- which would be the entire song!Today, I listened to her song for the very first time from a good place. I, for the first time ever, did not start to cry. I, did not start thinking about sad things.
I, on the other hand focused on the music and lyrics I was listening to...
"...You wait and see when the smoke clearsYou live you learn
You love you learnYou cry you learnYou lose you learnYou bleed you learnYou scream you learn...
...You grieve you learn
You choke you learnYou laugh you learnYou choose you learnYou pray you learnYou ask you learnYou live you learn..."
My epiphany... I have lived... and I have learned! Yes I did it!! Good job Carla!
I get it.
Doesn't matter the outcome of anything... the fact is... good or bad ... I learned.
I always thought that Alanis looked, wrote and sang everything from a cynical point of view... she's not cynical. She has only written about life. So simple that if not looked at with good light it can be construed as cynicism. Life doesn't need to be complicated.
Thank you Alanis.
"It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” ~Matthew 15:11 (ESV)
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ~Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ~Romans 12:2 (ESV)
[here's to you finding your... ]
Peace...
I am second..
... for a, l & c. You are my sunshine(s).
Images are courtesy of google or Bing images. Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Took It... Making It... Living It... My Life . © 2012 U.S Copyright Laws apply.
8 comments:
Great perspective, whether good or bad, I learned.
I try to teach my kids this every day!
Blessings.
Awww don't you love it when you have an aha moment like that. I listen to lyrics much more now than I did when I was younger. There's a Marvin Gaye album that tells a story and you have to listen to it in order. Of course when I was little and heard my daddy playing it I just sang the song not paying attention. It wasn't until I had it on my ipod and shuffle that I realized there was a story because each song bluntly ended. Okay I got waaaaay off the subject. Uh what were we talking about?
I loved Alanis when she came out! She was so edgy and inspiring at the same time. I've heard about her struggles with PPD, I give her credit for not using it to get attention for herself/career.
oh alanis, she did a really good job sharing the devastation a break up can bring! i loved how honest she was in her music. i am really curious about her new cd too. it's amazing how music can move you. sometimes you need those sad songs to comfort you and make you feel less alone, sometimes you get to hear that others came out on the other side too. this was really beautifully expressed carla! one of my faves from your blog : )
Carla, I'm so glad you see the brighter side of things now!! I think it also had lots to do with how she used to present herself. Now she's a mother...
I've had songs hit me out of the blue too and make me retrospective (even I'd heard them a million times before w/o a thought in the world). One of the many great things about music, yes?
Happy Wednesday.
So true! been there to a dark place of depression too...can happen to anyone, and yet here am I, I've seen it through and am happy and contented with the way I live my life...because I learned. Thanks Carla!
I'm glad that you can finally look at this from the other side. And it's true. Everything we go through in life is a chance to learn.
Post a Comment