I sat in front of my laptop this morning, trying to steal a few minutes early in the day to get my thoughts together for a blog post. To help focus my mind, I tend to turn on the iTunes playlist and tune out so to speak, from the normal manic pace of email, cell phones, and meetings or events going on in the office or in town. It is funny how music has a way of connecting you into the right frame of mind, and how much it speaks to us at a level that sometimes not many other things can. It may be serendipity, could be my mom who passed on but lives on every day working her magic upstairs, or just completely random chaos, but the songs that were the first to play were:
"Daughters" by John Mayer
I am blessed with two incredible daughters that share a positive spirit, an inspiring sense of who they are and confidence in how they see the situation, and are just funny girls to be around.
One is 21, a lover of fun, life long kid at heart, while being a wise old soul, and a strong force of nature that is dangerously close to becoming a full fledged adult when she finishes up school at Illinois State and starts her student teaching this December. That is from my perspective as the dad who still wishes I could be coaching her soccer team when she was in grade school and going on bike rides. Her schedule has her racing to finish up all the work and paperwork needed to make sure she finishes all her requirements and is ready to tackle a very lucky bunch of elementary school kids. My schedule running around as the crazy ValpoLife guy doesn’t leave a lot of time either, but in some ways I feel closer than ever to her. We are both working hard at something we are very passionate about, and have a clear vision of where we want to go. Thanks to technology we are able to connect some of the time through email, Facebook, and text messages, but hearing that song reminded me how lucky I am to have a kid with such a good head on her shoulders and heart in her body who always makes me smile whenever I am around her.
My other one is 10, going on 20, full of confidence and spunk, who loves to compete with the boys in her class whether it is on the soccer field with Jacob Sherman, in class doing multiplication tests against Max Behrend, or at home competing against her older brother Trevor in... well…. everything. She loves school, loves her teacher, loves her sports, loves her friends, and basically loves everything 100% or could absolutely care less about it. She makes me laugh, she is smart as heck, has a pretty sharp wit that cuts right to the chase far beyond her years, and takes after her mother with a tenacious determination to do whatever she sets out to do, and a strong internal compass that guides their path.
"Give Peace a Chance" by John Lennon
I was driving through downtown Valpo Wednesday night, and instantly remembered when I saw the crowds that I had seen a number of notes on Facebook about the upcoming public gatherings planned near the courthouse rallying support for or against the various positions related to health care reform. It was an incredible sight actually, and made me smile the whole time I drove through it which was slow due to traffic, a few police cars that were there to ensure everything stayed safe, and the sheet sight of hundreds of people gathered on opposite sides of Lincolnway. I was smiling because amidst all of the flag waving, sign holding, slogan shouting fervor that was being displayed, the fact that we live in a community and a country that not only allows but encourages debate, and that everybody gets to have a vote and a say in things, is cool. I was there for just a moment so I did not see anything other than harmless demonstration and bantering, though no doubt it got pretty intense at some point during the night. Just glad to see that folks care enough to get engaged, no matter what side they are on, and the John Lennon song reminded me that through reasonably peaceful debate, most any problem has a shot at finding a common solution, however imperfect it might be. This one will be one of the tougher one for all sides to tackle no doubt, and I sure am glad that we are ValpoLife and stick to just the positive perspective, so we do not have to get drug into that debate as it goes on.
"Waiting on the World to Change" by John Mayer
The third song that came up reminded me that in every aspect of our life, we all have the opportunity to be an agent of change in our personal or professional life, or just let life come at us as it will and influence us with it’s force. My daughters both have an attitude that tells those around them that .png)
they have decided how they want the course of their life to go, and they are not waiting for someone else to make it that way. They will have their ups and downs like all of us, but I am glad that they are wired to change the world more than being wired to have the world change them.
All of those folks that were congregating last night want to have an impact on the outcome, and they demonstrate once again that many people in Valpo are involved in what is happening in the city, within the schools, and taking part in countless churches and community organizations. They are raising money for charities, they are trying to help those less fortunate, they are trying to fix the sidewalks, and they are teaching our kids through education, sports, music, and activities going on in town, to follow in the tradition of service so that they too can make a difference. Some may think that the folks on the other side of the street are misguided, uninformed, or 100% wrong in their opinion, but to their credit, they got involved, came downtown, and hashed it out a bit without from what I hear any major clashes.
Music has always played a role in my daughters' lives to help them express who they are, in every debate this country has faced, and has helped to act as an agent of change at many times in our history. Pretty telling this morning that as I began to write, three songs that all hit a cord came right in a row that gave me just what I needed to write about. Who knows why? Maybe I just have a good music library, but I am betting on my mom.
Chris