I watched American Idol last Tuesday night with “disco” as the genre for the contestants song choices. One of them sang the classic BeeGees song, Stayin’ Alive from Saturday Night Fever. Not the most inspirational of lyrics:
Life goin nowhere, somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Life goin nowhere, somebody help me, yeah.
I’m stayin alive.
Really? That’s staying alive? If so, barely. Compare that concept to this one:
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs;
ask yourself what makes you come alive.
And then go and do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
(Harold Thurman)
So beautiful. And far more inspiring. It’s not enough to just stay alive; we need to come alive. And Whitman’s words move us from looking for help/survival externally (as though we cannot/will not find it in ourselves) to actively pursuing our own desires, taking responsibility for ourselves, acknowledging our own agency in life. So much healthier.
Admittedly, there are days where I feel that the best I can do is stay alive, but what I want – for myself and for others, especially those I care about – is to come alive (without disco ever being resurrected).
I want to feel passion. I want to feel pain.
I want to weep at the sound of your name.
Come make me laugh, come make me cry…just make me feel alive.
(Joey Lauren Adams)
Of all the forces that make for a better world,
none is so indispensable, none so powerful, as hope.
Without hope people are only half alive. With hope they dream and think and work.
(Unknown)
It’s your life. Live with people who are alive. It tends to be contagious.
(Peter McWilliams)
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Loved this Ronna. I hadn’t read your blog in a while and came across this one. It’s been something I’ve been pondering lately, and also allowing what makes me come alive to direct me in various ways. Thanks for the quotes and thoughts. They’re great.
Vicki Scheib