Take Back Your Life!

At his concerts, Bruce Springsteen is famous for yelling out, “Is there anybody alive out there?” It’s also a lyric from his song “Radio Nowhere.”

I often wonder that myself. Sure, people are clinically alive, but are they emotionally, mentally and spiritually alive? Are they waking up in the morning with a zest for life? There’s a big difference between following the beaten path and following your own path, between going through robotic motions and going through your own unique motions, between sleepwalking through life and going through life wide awake.

In my twenties & early thirties, I can say with absolute certainty I was sleepwalking through life. I looked for a mate, tried feverishly to eradicate the microscopic sliver of cellulite on the back of my thighs, shopped for outfits that made me look “hot” and tried to hold onto whatever job I had. I woke up every morning thinking, “Is this all there is?”

Fortunately, something woke me up, something slapped me on the face until I came to, something broke the stupor I’d encased myself in. For me it was singing. What a difference! Now, I can’t wait to get up in the morning, to learn something new, to meet someone new, to try something new.

I met a woman once who told me she felt dead inside. I wonder how many other people feel that way. As Tony Manero said in Saturday Night Fever, “There’s ways of killing yourself without killing yourself.”

Instead of raising our next generation to be dutiful consumers, why not raise them to be alive people? Can you imagine a world where people are encouraged to go for their “it” instead of being encouraged to hold back and hold on and hold out (usually for the lowest discount price?)

I’ll leave you with more lyrics from Radio Nowhere in the hopes we can turn life into Radio Somewhere …

“I was spinnin’ around a dead dial
Just another lost number in a file
Dancin’ down a dark hole
Just searchin’ for a world with some soul”

Muse thx, Giulietta