Rhythms of Life

Music has been created and enjoyed back to the earliest of days, and is still a major aspect of modern society.  Artists around the world are always experimenting with different genres and writing new songs; they often use their music to convey and share their feelings about experiences or maybe because they want to teach people something.  For example, many reoccurring themes in songs are heart break, love, religion, and death.  Through music, people can bond over similar types of genres they like and also find comfort in relating to other's struggles. In "Because my Father Always said he was the only Indian who saw Jimi Hendrix play 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at Woodstock" by Sherman Alexie, the main character's father makes a connection to Jimi Hendrix's music because both of them are going through the same thing: marginalization in America.  He not only appreciates his talented guitar playing, but also understands that Hendrix is an African American, a minority race, living in a predominantly white society.  Alexie's father, being a minority ethnicity himself, empathizes with Hendrix's struggles of assimilation; consequentially, he listens to the artist's music incessantly to remind himself that he isn't the only one going through it. This portrays that music often opens up new doors in people's lives by allowing them to connect to other's as well as come to terms with the realities of life.  On the other hand, it can also do the complete opposite and provide an escape for individuals to get away from their hardships.  Either way, music is celebrated around the world and is something that people will always have a passion for.

Identity or Perception?

Identity is what someone associates his/her beliefs, characteristics, and qualities with while perception is the way others see you. Often, we are the harshest critics of ourselves by comparing each other and constantly picking at our own flaws rather than choosing to see our strengths. People want to please others, so they frequently create a perfect image of themselves. To make matters worse, perception has become even more complex due to the advancement of technology and increased use of social media: people often judge others based on their profile picture, how many followers they have or how many likes they get. Studies even show that social media can cause depression because people constantly compare their own lives to the unrealistic, exaggerated, exciting ones that others falsely project to make themselves look better. "The grass is always greener on the other side" is the perfect idiom to describe this: we always think others have it better, when ironically that isn't the case at all. That person who we compare ourselves with is just trying to give off a wonderful perception of their self; it's not their true identity. Sometimes we become so obsessed with what others think that we let it take control over our lives. But in reality, the best thing to do is to just stop putting up a disguise and allow people to see the real you. If everyone acts like their true self, the vast differences between identity and perception could diminish and perhaps barely exist at all.