"Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" by Relient K. A song about an apology and a change in life. Lyrics below from one of those google-search lyrics sites...
I watched the proverbial sunrise
Coming up over the Pacific and
You might think I'm losing my mind,
But I will shy away from the specifics...
'cause I don't want you to know where I am
'cause then you'll see my heart
In the saddest state it's ever been.
This is no place to try and live my life.
Stop right there. That's exactly where I lost it.
See that line. Well I never should have crossed it.
Stop right there. Well I never should have said
That it's the very moment that
I wish that I could take back.
I'm sorry for the person I became.
I'm sorry that it took so long for me to change.
I'm ready to be sure I never become that way again
'cause who I am hates who I've been.
Who I am hates who I've been.
I talk to absolutely no one.
Couldn't keep to myself enough.
And the things bottled inside have finally begun
To create so much pressure that I'll soon blow up.
I heard the reverberating footsteps
Synching up to the beating of my heart,
And I was positive that unless I got myself together,
I would watch me fall apart.
And I can't let that happen again
'cause then you'll see my heart
In the saddest state it's ever been.
This is no place to try and live my life.
Who I am hates who I've been
And who I am will take the second chance you gave me.
Who I am hates who I've been
'cause who I've been only ever made me...
So sorry for the person I became.
So sorry that it took so long for me to change.
I'm ready to be sure I never become that way again
'cause who I am hates who I've been.
Who I am hates who I've been.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes
I like this song, so thought I'd share. Here's the vid from youtube and lyrics from some site I got through a google search. Unfortunately the video can't be embedded, so follow the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OihvG607W-c
Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touched down on the cold black top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere,
Why have I never cared?
Chorus:
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
Yeah
Yeah
Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what's underneath
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work
He's buying time
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?
Chorus
I've Been there a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way you see the people all along
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OihvG607W-c
Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touched down on the cold black top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere,
Why have I never cared?
Chorus:
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
Yeah
Yeah
Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what's underneath
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work
He's buying time
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?
Chorus
I've Been there a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way you see the people all along
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
balanced judgment
One thing I really try to instill in my students is to reach a balanced judgment on an issue they are writing about. In science, this bears out in that it is important to deal with all the facts & hypotheses dealing with an issue without favoring one over the other for no particular reason. The constant progression of science will ultimately shed light on scientific falsehoods.
It takes some effort to teach this, however, because we don't see a lot of modeling of balanced judgment in the rest of our non-academic lives. What we tend to see instead is spin. The truth of the matter isn't what is important, it's how well you can convince others that your opinion or position on an issue is the right one. This mentality of rhetoric pervades our current bi-polar U.S. political arena without a doubt. It is also pervasive in our culture through advertising - to sell the product is more important than to be completely truthful about it, so stretch the truth as far as is legally possible. The problem is that a mentality of rhetoric is not about truth, it's about power.
Love-Think-Speak requires that we abandon this kind of behavior. Things that are true are to be valued above things that are false, and achieving power through falsehood does not reflect a respect for the things in life that are true and good. There are few things more deserving of respect than when a person is open and honest with the truth regardless of how it might affect them.
It takes some effort to teach this, however, because we don't see a lot of modeling of balanced judgment in the rest of our non-academic lives. What we tend to see instead is spin. The truth of the matter isn't what is important, it's how well you can convince others that your opinion or position on an issue is the right one. This mentality of rhetoric pervades our current bi-polar U.S. political arena without a doubt. It is also pervasive in our culture through advertising - to sell the product is more important than to be completely truthful about it, so stretch the truth as far as is legally possible. The problem is that a mentality of rhetoric is not about truth, it's about power.
Love-Think-Speak requires that we abandon this kind of behavior. Things that are true are to be valued above things that are false, and achieving power through falsehood does not reflect a respect for the things in life that are true and good. There are few things more deserving of respect than when a person is open and honest with the truth regardless of how it might affect them.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
LTS at work
One of my favorite shows is "Chuck", on NBC Monday nights (although I watch all my TV from the DVR at later times...). For those who aren't familiar with the show (shame on you!), Chuck works at "Buy More", where he's the head of the "Nerd Herd", a group of computer fixers. I'll let you figure out where they got that idea.
Anyway, the "bossman" is a guy called "Big Mike", who is constantly yelling at his crew of workers to be more efficient, work harder, etc. etc. And you can't blame him much - most of the workers he has are not exactly stellar. And the workers, honestly, they work at the Buy More - not exactly the career path chosen for inspiration. So you have an environment set up where the workers feel largely unfulfilled, don't work very hard, and their bossman is constantly on their case to do work harder, which in turn causes the workers to feel less inspired to work harder. The workers don't get much respect, and for the most part their efforts don't exactly deserve it.
Love-Think-Speak at work doesn't mean BigMike is all gushing over his strugglin' employees - but it does mean he treats them with respect. Respect for their dignity as human beings, which is always there. But we tend to look at the outside - a person's look, attitude, and general performance, and base our respect for them on those things, and when they are scruffy, sloppy, or otherwise unattractive we deny them respect that their humanity requires. Of course that doesn't mean they can continue their poor work habits, and simply get a pass. Respect for one's humanity requires keeping them honest about who they are, what they are capable of, and how they are measuring up to that.
Anyway, the "bossman" is a guy called "Big Mike", who is constantly yelling at his crew of workers to be more efficient, work harder, etc. etc. And you can't blame him much - most of the workers he has are not exactly stellar. And the workers, honestly, they work at the Buy More - not exactly the career path chosen for inspiration. So you have an environment set up where the workers feel largely unfulfilled, don't work very hard, and their bossman is constantly on their case to do work harder, which in turn causes the workers to feel less inspired to work harder. The workers don't get much respect, and for the most part their efforts don't exactly deserve it.
Love-Think-Speak at work doesn't mean BigMike is all gushing over his strugglin' employees - but it does mean he treats them with respect. Respect for their dignity as human beings, which is always there. But we tend to look at the outside - a person's look, attitude, and general performance, and base our respect for them on those things, and when they are scruffy, sloppy, or otherwise unattractive we deny them respect that their humanity requires. Of course that doesn't mean they can continue their poor work habits, and simply get a pass. Respect for one's humanity requires keeping them honest about who they are, what they are capable of, and how they are measuring up to that.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
what's your life about?
Today I asked a friend of mine "What's your life about?". When I think about that question, it's a chance for me to think about the various hats I wear as I go about categorizing my life into parts - there's the "daddy" hat when I'm home with the kids, "hubby" hat when I'm with my wife, "teacher" hat when I'm working with students, etc. I'm never satisfied with all this compartmentalization of life, but it seems inevitable. His deep, mature, yet simple reply was exactly what I need to hear - "love", he said. That everything we do, however we go about it, we do it in a spirit of love - to live a life of love. brilliant. why didn't I think of that?
So I went back to my hats, and each one fits very nicely when love is what grounds the task or relationship that the hat represents.
So I went back to my hats, and each one fits very nicely when love is what grounds the task or relationship that the hat represents.
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