Kali Uchis once said, “The sun’ll come out. Nothing good ever comes easy, I know times are rough BUT winners don’t quit, SO don’t you give up…” (After the Storm, 2018) The first time I heard those lyrics I was a senior in high school, and I felt like Kali was speaking to me!!!!! BUT NOT ONLY me, usually people who like Kali also were like omg yessssssssssss I felt that. Kali in the same song later states “cause after the storm is when the flowers bloom.” In 10th grade I had a half-year long sub in English. Apart from being a long-term sub he always gave us motivational chats/examples. The one that stuck with me the most is that we should treat life as a sailboat. Sometimes it’s easy/beautiful sailing, clouds come and go, but you should always be prepared for any random rough storm’s life sends you. When I heard this my mind was blown, I was like that is sooooo true man. So, I stand by those words. It makes unanticipated situations easier to cope with. You don’t feel tied down to the situation you may be going through, you just think hey storms come and go, who knows this one could be an easy storm compared to a tsunami. I also feel like I must make it clear that what you consider a storm someone else could considered clouds or easy sailing (and vice versa) so being understanding plays a major key in this. When I heard after the storm for the first time it was an instant add to my music library. The song followed that sailboat metaphor and I just kept quoting it if someone was sad and needed advice (this method is not recommended if you’re trying to be deep and you and the other person listen to the same music, I once quoted logic “you can be anything you wanna be, except the person you don’t wanna be” and my best friend was like okiee logic, super cringe moment in history). Though I may stand with the sailing metaphor I live for “Life is what YOU MAKE IT”. OUOUOUOUOUOU GIRL, life is what you make it. You control your emotions and point of view things. If anyone knows what you like/dislike, it’s youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. So, listen to yourself please. Keep doing things that make you feel good, complete, calm, etc.; avoid feelings/situations where you feel unwelcomed, insecure, sad, etc. I’m not a therapist nor a philosopher but I just wanted to share a slight look into how I perceive things. Trust me, I still struggle with decoding emotions sometimes, but I take the time to listen and understand ME, leading things to start turning a little better.
Mr. Lafayette Goins, I don’t know where you are in life but thank you for broadening my understanding in life because you didn’t only teach us English, you taught us real life lessons. Also, thankful for those artists and their lyrical ways of putting things.
