Yesterday many Americans stood craning their necks as they gazed at bright combustions of volatile particles off in the distance. Though for many this gazing experience was laced slightly with fear (of being pelted with falling debris, of the noise, that one of the many children scrambling around might hurt themselves), there also was an uncommon awe. People stood mesmerized, all gathered for the same reason and staring fixedly at what would not occur again until New Years. Yesterday was Independence Day. It held a special significance for me as I have been away from home the last two years when this time rolled around.
Independence day to me translates to a time of ideals. It commemorates an instance when the underdog won, and everyone’s lives changed for the better (everyone who wasn’t enslaved that is, but I’ll save that for another time). We parallel that with another shocking deviation from the norm, fireworks. Both institutions and independents lend a hand to create the continuous cacophony that reverberates across the nation every year starting around 7:00pm. Around you people young and old squeal with delight, and everyone for a few moments exists completely in sync. I believe that’s the real wonder.
The French people often are credited with an abstract manner of thinking and a fascination with philosophy that trumps the nagging concerns of the everyday world. You can find the words “Regarde le Ciel” scrawled all across Paris, on doorways, in streets, on walls. This is inspired by a song released in 2013 by Aline, in which the chorus echoes “Look at the sky, it’s me the king, I’m crazy like an angel outlawed, the dump is a place where one throws little children, little children will become big and perhaps mean if they are alive.”
The words shocked me, as they have a frenzied undertone but are overlaid with a soothing, nonthreatening beat. This seeming discord between the music and the message increased the words’ impact on me. The chorus voices an age old debate, and one that I think there is no definitive answer to, the sky or the ground. Occasionally, we all catch a glimpse of something in the distance that dares us to chase after it, some new experience or some person or some opportunity, that seems too good to be true. There’s a question of whether you drop everything and go, having faith in the unknown or whether you stay where you always have been. Staying would be at the expense of perhaps something incredible, but it also means you stay grounded. You aren’t swept in the whirlwind that is chasing your dreams and reaching for the impossible. Though the words of the song are a bit extreme, they depict an image of what it means to say “no” to what feels like the impossible and what it does to you. On the 4th of July, we celebrate a time when the improbable panned out. Perhaps it is worthwhile sometimes to risk it all, forget where we stand, and look at the sky.
Independence day to me translates to a time of ideals. It commemorates an instance when the underdog won, and everyone’s lives changed for the better (everyone who wasn’t enslaved that is, but I’ll save that for another time). We parallel that with another shocking deviation from the norm, fireworks. Both institutions and independents lend a hand to create the continuous cacophony that reverberates across the nation every year starting around 7:00pm. Around you people young and old squeal with delight, and everyone for a few moments exists completely in sync. I believe that’s the real wonder.
The French people often are credited with an abstract manner of thinking and a fascination with philosophy that trumps the nagging concerns of the everyday world. You can find the words “Regarde le Ciel” scrawled all across Paris, on doorways, in streets, on walls. This is inspired by a song released in 2013 by Aline, in which the chorus echoes “Look at the sky, it’s me the king, I’m crazy like an angel outlawed, the dump is a place where one throws little children, little children will become big and perhaps mean if they are alive.”
The words shocked me, as they have a frenzied undertone but are overlaid with a soothing, nonthreatening beat. This seeming discord between the music and the message increased the words’ impact on me. The chorus voices an age old debate, and one that I think there is no definitive answer to, the sky or the ground. Occasionally, we all catch a glimpse of something in the distance that dares us to chase after it, some new experience or some person or some opportunity, that seems too good to be true. There’s a question of whether you drop everything and go, having faith in the unknown or whether you stay where you always have been. Staying would be at the expense of perhaps something incredible, but it also means you stay grounded. You aren’t swept in the whirlwind that is chasing your dreams and reaching for the impossible. Though the words of the song are a bit extreme, they depict an image of what it means to say “no” to what feels like the impossible and what it does to you. On the 4th of July, we celebrate a time when the improbable panned out. Perhaps it is worthwhile sometimes to risk it all, forget where we stand, and look at the sky.
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