choice.

Ever since I was a little girl I was always given the ability to choose. Being a twin sometimes forces you into the same or very similar choice as your sister. If she is wearing the red dress you should as well. Ever since I was little I fought for my choice. If Lindsay was eating vanilla I wanted strawberry. If her dress was purple mine was pink. It help to define my personality. I always wanted to be different.

When I have a few extra minutes I like to read books that have really nothing to do with theology and dive into the word of popular culture. I just finished Nick Hornby's "A Long Way Down" that I thoroughly enjoyed. His work is always something that I enjoy and learn a life lesson through the reading. The loveliness of his writing is smart and witty on top of it dripping with musical commentary.

There was a comment about Nick Drake and his brilliance (this is not something that I am debating) and the essence of pop music. It left me with the question, are our musical choices based upon our life choices?

It doesn't seem to be that tough of a question but I had to think and ponder about how my life choices might reflect the music I am listening and infiltrating my life. I meet people on a regular basis who do not know anything really about music and the impact it has on it's listeners. Pop music is left for Kidz Bop and Now44! These mass produced compilation discs that commemorate a moment in history, pop summer hits mixed with love ballads to remember the horrible breakup of this time period. When all you do is listen to pop music does that mean that your life is filled with the attitudes of this pop? Do we just want things to be all bubbly and pretty without the pain or brokenness?

When our life is filled with brokenness, why do we try to cover it up with the sounds of Nelly or Nelly Furtado? Why do we try to mask the pain?

What could happen if we took the time to really sit through our emotions and pain? The sounds and sighs of musical geniuses take a step closer to what behind curtain number two, the good stuff, the sticky stuff, the stuff that makes us grow, change, and develop as a person. When we spend the time listening to nick drake, jeff buckley, or other types of sad bastard music, do we let the pains of life sit with us? Do we let ourselves choose to go against the pop manifesto and drown a little in our pain?

Do we allow ourselves to be challenged and changed by the music? Do we allow ourselves to be swallowed up into the brokenness?

I guess I choose to not head down the pop route. I enjoy it when I am stuck in traffic, dancing at a party, or help the beginning of a great mix tape. I choose the underground, but then again I seem to choose to be a little different.