What About Us?

I have a feeling this post isn't going to make much sense at all, but tonight was the Grammy's Tribute to Michael Jackson and, to be quite honest, the whole experience has left me emotionally drained. I thought I had prepared myself for it, but after seeing it, I was wrong. Actually, I would have been OK if Prince and Paris hadn't made an appearance. As a fan, growing up with MJ we became accustomed to never seeing his children. Which was alright, but as true fans, we understood his reasons for keeping them hidden. Honestly, I refuse to judge Michael for anything he ever did, because who can know what it's like to live his life? So, now that Michael is gone, it's just absolutely shocking to me to see his kids out and about in public and on award's shows. Not only is it shocking to see them, it's shocking not to see Michael. Once again we have to relive the horrible fact that he's not here any longer...and in return his kids are making appearances in the public eye. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a bad thing that Prince and Paris were there. They are growing up far to fast, far faster than Michael would have liked, but that's unavoidable once you've experienced the death of a parent. Soon they will be making decisions on their own and deciding what they want to do with their lives, just as they would have done had Michael been alive. But without him it just seems so horribly wrong. I can just picture them watching him preform those concerts last fall. All he wanted was to perform for his kids....and he never got the chance. I can't imagine being Prince, Paris, and Blanket and living with the "What if Daddy?" question. I did love that their cousins accepted the award with them. Michael loved his family and was close with his nephews. I'm sure he was smiling happily at seeing his wonderful family all together on stage.

The tribute done by the singers was also inspiring. I was so happy that they chose to do a song that really spoke to Michael's message, instead of just his otherworldly talent. We all know he's the greatest entertainer of all time, there was no need to wow everyone with dancing and a medley of his greatest hits. Usher, Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood (wasn't happy to see her there...), Celine Dion, and Jennifer Hudson did a phenomenal job of making Michael's message heard. Earth Song says it all. And what so powerful about it was using Michael's own voice, almost like he was there. I kept finding myself looking for him on stage, his voice was there but his body wasn't. I'm sure he was singing right along with the others, just from Heaven.

I still can't decide why this effects me the way it does. There is a purpose. I do believe that Michael was sent here to deliver a message, to be an instrument of God, but I wonder what I am supposed to do with the passion and energy he has given me?



Lionel Richy with Paris, Blanket, and Prince--Grammys 2010

Hope for Haiti

Recently all the major cable networks participated in a telethon to benefit the people in Haiti who have been devastated by the recent earthquakes. It was a horrible, yet heart-warming 2 hours. I watched celebrities from all walks of life come together for one evening and join together in love for their fellow man. Actors, actresses, singers, etc. All were there for the event, whether it was to answer the phone or sing for entertainment, they were there, amid stories and pictures from the people of Haiti. Millions were moved to donate to the cause, even if it was just to talk with a celebrity such as Leo DeCaprio, Jennifer Aniston, Steven Spielberg, or Taylor Swift on the phone.

What I soon noticed was people's Facebook status' reflecting their thoughts on the telethon. While I changed my status to hopeful words from Michael Jackson, many other changes theirs to complaints about having nothing to watch on TV, about how horrible our government is for providing all this relief to Haiti when our own country is in need of aid. While, this may be true, we are FAR better off than the people of Haiti. Yes, there are wrongs here that need to be righted. But the same can be said for every country. And when we're helping another group of people so devastatingly broken is NOT the time to bring up our country's small issues. What I wouldn't give to take those cynics and place them in a Haitian hospital with the sick and dying and those trying to save them. I wonder where their hateful words would be then?? But beyond the fact that helping Haiti is our nation's responsibility as one of the main powers of the world, it is also our Christian duty as people of Jesus. As Jesus said:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

The question of whether you help those people in need is not if we should or shouldn't. It's what would Jesus do.

Cynicism is apathy. Apathy doesn't help anyone. But those who posses it seem to have a hard time realizing that.

If you missed the telethon I strongly suggest going to YouTube and searching for the performances from that night. They were so inspiring and beautiful. Jennifer Hudson's cover of The Beatles "Let it Be" was impressive.

Burn on through

Today, I was chatting with someone, we'll call him/her "X," and the conversation turned to the future and this new person's job, etc. I began talking about my hopes for the future, how I can't decide what I want to do...not because I don't want to, but because I'm so passionate about so many different things and I don't feel like I've been shown a clear path just yet. Anyway, to make a long story short...it boiled down to this person telling me that I needed to make my expectations smaller...pick something and just do it. Settle. And it just hit me wrong. That's precisely what I don't want to do and why I've been feeling so turbulent! I don't want to "settle" for something at age 22 and just do it!!! And I know it works for some people, and that's perfectly fine. But if I'm so terrified of the idea, then I know it can't be right for me. There's something out there...and I'll find it. And I'll be HAPPY.
So I decided to turn to some of my favorite quotes. These words always inspire me and help me believe that anything is possible. I love books and their characters...


“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
-Jack London


"Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends."
-Gandalf - The Fellowship of the Ring


Arthur: Pelagius told me once: "There is no worse death than the end of hope."
Guinevere: You and I are not the polite people that live in poems. We are blessed and cursed by our times.
King Arthur


"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island....and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life."
-Walt Disney

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.
-The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
Albus Dumbledore - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone