The Power of Words

       “Words are the most infinite source of magic, capable of both damaging and remedying.”(Albus Dumbledore) Words have always been powerful. They make people feel things, both positive and negative emotions. They have been one of mankind’s most powerful tools for years. Words can be used to create and destroy. You see both every day. When you talk to your friends, your using words for good, but when you have a rival, positive words are not used often. Words define a human being, revealing their personality, thinking, and who they are.

       Words can do more damage than just about any other weapon in the world. Not physical, but mental damage. In war, enemies try to distract you, get inside your head, turn you away from your goal and this happens everywhere. Rivals everywhere try to bring each other down with words in an attempt to sway them from their path to the goal. Words are a very powerful weapon in the wrong hands, and sadly, all the wrong hands already have them.

       Words are capable of immense damage, but also of immense healing. When someone gets hurt, someone often tries to comfort them by speaking to them as well as taking appropriate medical action, but if someone loses a limb, no amount of bandages will ever heal their mind. Only words can. Only words can heal the damage on the person, the same way music healed me after we moved. Bandages only heal the body.

       Words are everywhere and since they are infinite, some people use them where they are unnecessary. When someone dies, no amount of words can heal them because they have moved beyond word’s reach. No amount of words will bring someone back. Words can however, recover those affected by the death. They can heal the stricken, turn their mind from the passing of their friend or family member. “Do not pity the dead. Pity the living.”(Albus Dumbledore)

       Words have been around forever. They are conveyed from person to person, transport thoughts, opinions, and ideas through the air. They are capable of immense damage, capable of killing, but they are also capable of immense healing. They can bring those who are mentally gone back. Words are infinite, and always will be resulting in our tendency to use them where they are useless. People die and the living waste words after their respects by screaming for them to come back, but they won’t. These people are ignoring all others who were affected by the death, acting selfish by only thinking of themselves when they should be tending to those who were the most damaged by the death. Words can be used for both good and evil. It is your choice how you use them.

Last Day of My iTunes Library

       After doing this project, I've found old music that now bring up memories, and the best part of this was being able to share this music. Some people may hate it, some may think it's annoying, depressing or just plain bad, but either way, music defines us. It makes a statement on who we are. This project allowed me to share this music with everyone so that they may get into it as well. I was able to connect to old feelings especially with this project, mostly involving the move up to here. Without doing this project, I'm sure I would've forgotten them, but now it's time for my last song that I'll be sharing. I saved the best for last. Today's song is Ghosts 'n' Stuff by deadmau5. ( Turn your volume up )

Iridescent - Linkin Park

       I bought this song while driving up here from Florida and I have never forgotten the lyrics. This song really plays on emotions. I remember driving at around midnight and listening to this, hearing the lyrics speak to me.

       I said in an earlier post that during the move I wasn't myself and I was pretty much in anguish, but when I first heard this song, it was incredible. It helped me get over the move both during and after, it still helps around 8 months later. The lyrics really touch the hearts of everyone, speaking to all. This song is by far the best pick-me-up I know of. The lyrics are unforgettable. I first heard them 8 months ago and as soon as I did, they stuck. I can never get them out of my head. 

Shelter - The XX

       I found this song back in Florida during a hurricane and it made me really think about the meaning of the word shelter. Shelter in it's literal form means a place that gives protection, but when I hear this song, I think of shelter in it's figurative form. Meaning something that you can sort of absorb yourself into, like a hobby.

       I usually listen to this song while taking pictures because it just helps me focus on the task at hand and close myself off from the world. I went out and took some pictures of a lake today and listened to this song which made me completely forget about everything but my camera. I ended up being outside for close to 2 hours. Most songs allow me to escape into my mind, forget about the world, but this one more so. I don't know why exactly, but I usually take my best pictures when listening to this song.

Watercolour - Pendulum

       I heard this song to day and some lyrics stood out to me: "When I'm falling down...will you pick me up again...when I'm too far gone...dead in the eyes of my friends...will you take me out of here when I'm staring down the barrel, when I'm blinded by the lights, when I cannot see your face, take me out of here (x4)". It made me think about how much people depend on each other, how much we need people in our lives. Everyone has a desire for human interaction and social acceptance and this song reflected that.

       Some people can live in isolation, without any human interaction, but these are the people who are torn up inside. People who remain isolated are forcing themselves into self inflicted pain by remaining away from people. We're all going to high-school next year and it's obviously going to bring a new setting, new people, and a new atmosphere. Don't try to isolate yourself from others. Believe me, I've tried, but the truth is, everyone needs someone to have their back. Just pay attention to the lyrics and you'll see how powerful they are.

SOPA Act

       The government is debating both the SOPA and PIPA acts. These acts will be removing pirated movies and music and other pieces of artwork that are stolen on the internet, but if they do, then they'll be shutting down everything about it. My blog is about music and since I've posted music videos, this site could be taken down if the acts go through. The government will be taking these things away from us, from people who aren't making money off it and are just trying to share it with people. I'm not stealing it, I'm just allowing for it to be visible on my site for more people to see. If anything, we're promoting the links we have in our blogs. The government plans to just shut everything down relating to one subject so if one of the artists of the songs I've posted complains, everything relating to it, including my blog, will be shut down completely. They're not making an effort to stop the people that are actually pirating it, but they're trying to stop everything about it on the internet that isn't official. By doing this, they are violating the First Amendment, removing our right of free speech. I understand where companies are coming from however.  They have a valid argument. They don't want people to steal their stuff and that's fine, everyone agrees with that, but they're handling this wrong. They're doing it the simple way, by just removing everything about the subject on the internet when they should be trying to take down the people who are actually stealing it, who are profiting from stuff they don't own. When someone posts a music video up on youtube, they can't make money off it because it's copyright, but either way, people post music videos up on youtube because they want more people to hear that music. If I was a musician and I saw my music video posted up on youtube, I'd be pretty pumped because then I know people like my music and support my work. These acts are classifying people that use the internet and post content they don't own as thiefs and criminals. These acts are also putting the artists of these pieces in a bad situation because they'll be letting their fans down. Luckily, these acts are still in discussion and more people are protesting them. The group that is supporting them is gradually beginning to disperse. I'm sure that if people rise up and fight for the arts, then both of these bills will be denied.

Oxygen (Gemini Remix) - Hadouken!

       Part of what makes us human is our ability to have passion. A person can have something that interests them more than anything else, something they love. There are things in this world that keep us alive. I don't mean literally, but something that makes a person feel "alive". This passion can be a skill, talent, person, anything really. Human beings have the ability to pursue these passions and get good at them.

       My passions are both archery and music. Archery may look really boring and slow, but it's incredible to be the one drawing back the bow. Archery makes me feel alive, makes me relax. It lets me escape into my mind and just envision the bow string being drawn back, the arrow soaring through air, hitting the target dead-center. Music affects me the same way. This song in particular makes me think of these passions, these things in life that define "alive".

Letters From The Sky - Civil Twilight

       When we moved up here, we chose to drive up. We drove for about 4 days, stopping at hotels around 11 pm each day. During this time, I couldn't talk to any of my old friends because I lost my phone. I listened to this song the entire time we were driving and hearing it now makes me remember that feeling of solitude. Just the rhythm of the song brings up memories of driving on the highway in silence. It paints the picture of leaving somewhere that you lived for years. I've been listening to it a bit more often lately and it brings up memories, but not sadness. It brings back the awesome feeling of no one knowing where I was. This song makes me relive those memories, but I relive them as if I'm who I am now. During the trip I was incredibly sad, the solitude gnawing at me each day of the trip. Now, I just remember the feeling of having a new life, a new door opening to this new place. This song brings up the solitude in a good way because that solitude changed me, made me who I am now. I'm grateful for that feeling of detachment, the loneliness during the trip. I'm glad I left that life behind.

Soldier On - The Temper Trap

       I heard this song today and it just made me think how difficult life can be sometimes. People go through so much throughout life and they have to find some way to keep going. This song is reflective of that, but it also helps them keep going. I remember listening to this a lot both during the move up here and after. It still has the same effect. It gives people hope, allows them to get over sadness. It helped me get over losing all my friends and moving to a new place. It occupied my mind instead of my old friends. I listened to it while I was taking pictures and it slowly allowed me to transition into life here. It's incredible how powerful music can be.

Tighten Up - The Black Keys

       Back in Florida, I listened to this song all the time. Wherever I was, I was listening to this song. The rhythm is so laid back that it just chills people out, but now when I hear it I remember the best times I had in Florida. The most prominent memory I have is when I went to the beach with all my friends. I'm pretty sure this song was playing there and maybe that's why I remember that day when I hear it. We went to the beach around the first week of summer just to hang out and celebrate school being out. It's the best memory I have of Florida. Everything seemed more "real" then. This was before we even got the idea of moving and I remember it so well because I loved Florida at the time and I still do. It's amazing that music can be so powerful, that it can bring up some of the best emotions and times.

Natural Competition - Conditions

       I heard this song today and it just made me think how weird life is. It made me think that we only have so much control over things. It made me think that so many things happen naturally. Some people get along naturally, others hate each other naturally. So many things happen that we can't control. It's natural to compete with others. People say that everything happens for some reason, that some good will come from everything. The truth is the world is just completely insane. Good can come from everything, but never for a reason. No one controls what happens in life except for you.

       This song also made me think about first impressions. People say that first impressions are the most important. They can be, but a first impression doesn't really matter if you act differently later. Someone can make a great first impression, they can sound like a great person. Emphasis on "sound". You may find out later that this person can have a terrible personality. People change. Naturally.

Cracks (Flux Pavilion Remix) [Feat. Belle Humble] - Freestylers

       I've been thinking about my life back in Florida lately and how much I've changed since then. I regret some things, keep others at the top of my head to remind me of the best times I've ever had. I regret most of the friends I made, the people that only act cool and act how the group wants them to instead of being an individual. The zombie like kids that had no real personality, only one forged by society. I changed before we moved, seperating myself from people, becoming more of an individual and less of a group member. I can't remember any period of time back then where I wasn't with friends, but they were the wrong ones. The friends I have here are more like people. The ones back in Florida were like mirrors reflecting whatever society wanted it to. Here, everyone is different in some way. All of us have some sort of group we favor and that's what society is about, but people here don't become that group. This song reminds me of the people I once knew and makes me really think about them. It seems unreal, like that wasn't me in those memories. But it was and I'm glad because I have some great memories, some great friends from Florida, but they weren't necessarily real friends. This song makes me think of those mirrors shattering, being replaced by the people I know now. I'm glad we've moved here. I'm glad I've made these friends. I'm glad the mirrors are gone.

Hold Your Colour - Pendulum

       I had this thought today that I had in my head the entire day. Imagine if music was taken away, illegal to even hum a song. Imagine if you were restricted to the monotone hum of traffic, conversation and natural sounds. No more rhythm. No more music. No more freedom.

       It would be a world without creativity, without "flow". No one would be expressing themselves through sound. I wouldn't survive in a world like that. It would shatter peoples' lives, completely break down personalities. It's hard to even imagine. I've never been much of a musician, but I've never gone a day without listening to music. It's more than a hobby, it's an addiction and a good one. I express myself through music, see myself in the rhythm, focus and think to the flow of a song. I always like to think of it reflecting my life. I thought about living in a world like that, not having a song in my head 24/7. I can't. I just come up with a blank. I try to share music with everybody, even though I'm not the musician. I think that if it comes to this bleak thought, this terrible, nightmarish idea of a world, everyone needs some sort of rhythm. 

       This song is the perfect one for holding out, rebelling against unjust restrictions. It encourages life, adds rhythm to it. It creates some sort of flow for the day. I hope that everyone has some sort of rhythm at all times, even if it isn't this song.

Radioactive - Kings of Leon

       Back in Florida we rarely went to the beach since we lived around central Florida, but when we did, it was incredible. It always looked something like the background of this blog. The easiest aspect of the beach to remember for me is the waves. They're always changing, just like people. The waves growing and shrinking just like the emotions of people, mimicking our lives perfectly.

       I vividly remember the sun sinking below the horizon, the waves reflecting it every second of the way. I remember seeing a wave rise up one day covering the sun, but the water was such a clear blue that the sun shone through, painting the sandy canvas a fiery orange. It's the thing I miss most about Florida. The irreplaceable, unforgettable, priceless beach. The song Radioactive paints this picture just about perfectly. It reminds of the laid-back feeling, amazing landscape and warm rays of the sun that can't be forgotten or replicated ever.

Different - Pendulum

As I was listening to music on the bus to NFS today, I payed close attention to the lyrics of the songs. While I was listening to Different by Pendulum, these lyrics jumped out at me:"We are going to a different place...we're taking everything we can...there's no expression left on my face...'cause time is running out so fast...we're sinking in the sand...". These lyrics describe leaving a place you grew up in perfectly.

Before we actually moved and we were sure we were going to move, I felt broken. I had lived in Florida all my life and never thought about moving somewhere else. We haven't even stayed anywhere for more than 5 days, but this? This was insane. I didn't know what to expect at all. I didn't know what was going to happen. I knew I couldn't leave this place. Then we did.

The months before the move, I hardly showed any expression. my parents were worried about me and I knew exactly why, but I couldn't help myself. I didn't know how to react to leaving Florida. When we actually did though, I had this amazing thought. No one in Florida, not a single person, knows where I am or where I'm going.

It was an incredible, unforgettable feeling. I was leaving behind the only past I knew. My life was now a blank canvas and I was the only one with a brush. I would decide how I was going to live here and I knew for a fact it would be better than Florida. I still haven't been proven wrong.

I hope this song affects you the same way it has affected me.

I do not own this song or the video. The video was created by SpawnFlac and the music was created by Pendulum.