In Your Atmosphere...

"Wherever I go, whatever I do, I wonder where I am in my relationship to you. Wherever you go, whatever you are, I watch your life play out from pictures from afar ." 

- John Mayer 

If I were to define a genius, I would define it as John Mayer. Well, that is a musical genius. Have you ever sat down and listened intently to they lyrics of his music? He is a poetic extraordinaire. His lyrics immediately begin to dance around in my head, his words suddenly come to life. They are not just lyrics written on paper, and then transferred to his perfect voice. They are lyrics that can perform plays and scenes in your head once you hear them out loud. 


Looking at my iTunes now, I can honestly say that I have 51 songs in my library by this amazing artist. A majority of it is because I have both the recorded and live versions of his songs, but nevertheless they are all amazingly good. Believe it or not that is not even all of his songs! Whenever I cannot sleep or I am just having a tough day and I need to calm down, my fingers fly to my iTunes of my iPod and immediately put on John Mayer's music. He is my anti-drug. Some people turn to drinking or drugs or even violence, but I, I turn to music. Yes, many other people turn to music as well. For example, those who love to blast hard rock or mega death metal crazy ear splitting music. John Mayer soothes the soul. 


The quote above comes directly from his song, "In Your Atmosphere". I did not realize until recently how beautiful this song was. It came on my iPod and when it was over all I wanted to do was to listen to it again. Obviously this songs is about him staying away from a girl that is in LA. He's staying away because, "he die if he saw her and he would die if he didn't see her there". Basically either way he would feel guilty about setting foot in LA. Her atmosphere just isn't right for him. However, this song after hearing it and looking at the lyrics multiple times semi-reminded me of a parent-child relationship. Perhaps this relationship is not a good relationship and the child has been rebellious and this is a song about the parent reaching out. You know what I'm sayin? Stick with me here.... The child lives in LA. The parent goes to see him/her, but if they are not there then that would just be the end of the parent because they no longer know where they live or where they are or what they are up to. 


The last part of the song really moves me and allows me to see the parent-child relationship. "Wherever you are, whatever I do, I wonder where I am in my relationship to you" this line makes the parent wonder whether or not their child is even concerned about them or wants anything to do with them anymore. "Wherever you go, wherever you are, I watch your life play out from pictures of afar" this could very easily be relatable because maybe this son/daughter sends their parents pictures once a year of what is going on. But don't parents who do have good relationships with their kids do anyways? When they are all grown up and live in different states or countries, don't the parents live vicariously through the pictures that they see or that they are sent? I mean that's the only way aside from phone calls that they know how their children's lives are. 


I know that that is not what John intended the song to be about or anything, it was just an alternative  meaning that came to mind. I love John's songs and I have always enjoyed listening to his music and I think that it is pretty amazing that his songs have made me think of different situations or what different songs could mean to the listeners that hear them. 


John Mayer hasn't always had the best reputation, especially when it comes to women. But I have learned to set that all aside and see him for the musician that he is. People think I am crazy weird to say this, but John is also an amazing guitarist. He is up there with the best of them let me tell you. On his live album, "Where The Light Is", he guitar intros and stunning. Plus the guitar rifts in his songs are moving and so enjoyable that I cannot see how anyone could dislike them. Pure genius. 


"I don't think I'm gonna go to LA anymore".... 


Peace. Love. John Mayer. 

Life is too short....

"We both know that life is too short. Too short to waste one single second with anyone who doesn't appreciate and value you." -The Truth About Forever

The above quote is found in my favorite book, The Truth About Forever. The author, Sarah Dessen, has Wes, a young man who is finally getting his life back on track, say this to Macy, a young girl who is trying to find her place in the world. What I like most about this quote is the fact that Sarah has definitely nailed something on the head here. Life is indeed too short, I think that we can all come to that conclusion. Therefore because life is too short we should not waste a single second with anyone or anything that doesn't appreciate who we are as people or degrades our values.  My question is why do people not realize how short life is until something drastic hits them in the head? Or better yet, why do people waste time not appreciate the things that are good in life? 


I will say that being away from home is a lot tougher than I imagined. For starters I 100% miss the food that my mom and dad make every night. I almost feel as if I do not eat as much as I should because the food in the cafeteria is barely manageable. Now I know I should not be complaining about the food, because there are people who are much worse off than I am, but still. Then there is the issue of not having a car to drive. Granted that I do not necessarily need it to get from class to class, that is why God gave us two feet, but it would be nice to take the burden off my parents from having to drive and come get me when I want to see my little brother's football, basketball, and baseball games. Furthermore, as I am delving into my freshman year it would be really nice to have a car to drive around to all these places that I would like to volunteer at, you know I cannot walk to every single destination that I would like to be at. Heck I even miss my brother being a pest to me, and having my dog around the house. Things are just different. Anyway, that is besides the point. What I am trying to get at here is to not take the little things for granted, hold onto them and cherish them. Life is too short, and sometimes I am afraid that I will not realize those good things in life until they are gone.


In the book Macy is a young girl who thinks that she has to be perfect, if she strays one inch from being perfect then her world is going to fall apart. This idea was planted in her head because of her father's death earlier on in the book. Macy never took the time to grieve for her father, instead she was worried about taking care of her mother and sister. Macy continued life each day during that summer as a simple routine. Wake up, eat breakfast, go to work at the library, study SAT vocabulary word, eat dinner, sleep, the end. Suddenly one day at her mother's dinner party, something chaotic was thrown in her way. Macy met this group of people, Delia's Wish Catering Company. They are so full of life that she cannot even see herself to be amongst them. They represent one word: imperfection. 


Now, in the words of Miley Cyrus, "Nobody's Perfect".  I don't think that there is a perfect being on this planet because we all have our flaws and we have all made mistakes. The thing that we can strive for is perfection, however long that may be. We can try to correct our wrongs or even try to reach the unthinkable, but no body can be perfect. Macy, as hard as she tries cannot be perfect. By her trying to be perfect she continues to become unsatisfied with her life. Only when chaotic and life living people enter her life does she realize how much she dislikes her life. 


I'm not really sure what the point of this entry is, but I am just trying to hammer out thoughts in my head. I have taken a writing hiatus, and look where it has gotten me, just simply rambling on and on and on about nonsense things. I cannot ask each and everyone of you to read this book and to fall in love with the book like I did, but I will say it is a must read, and I hope that one day you will take the time to read it. You will be surprised how much you can connect to it. Maybe not directly to connect, but you can certainly feel what the author was trying to write about and what type of message she was trying to convey. 


Life is too short to be living self guarded and scared. Life is meant to be lived being happy, having fun, and finding your purpose in life and to make those around you happy. Life is found in many different forms.... maybe it is found in your studies, your music, your friends/ family, or even your experiences. 


Surround yourself by those who truly value you for who you are and by those who appreciate the little things that you do for them and even the little things that they do for you!