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Paramore on the Honda Civic Tour
Summer of 2010
Picture by Me :) |
I’m a huge music
junkie. No doubt I’ve done everything
to hide
that fact. *sheepish grin* One of my favorite bands is Paramore. I’ve seen them in
concert twice, usually listen to their albums while driving across the state
for the day job, and yes, many of
their songs are in my writing playlists.
On Sunday I ran across
a photo of Hayley Williams, lead singer of Paramore, on Facebook where
it appeared as though she got a new tattoo. (Don’t want to post the pic
here since I can’t locate the copyright license for it.) This tattoo may be one
she’s had for a while and I’ve just never noticed, but when I saw it, it struck
a chord with me. Call it coincidence, but I just so happened to be pondering my writing journey and thinking about how badly I want my writing career to succeed ... then that pic came through on Facebook. And of course I noticed the tattoo right away because I myself have two of my own and enjoy checking out others' artistic expressions.
The tattoo I'm referring to is on her left forearm and it says: Accentuate the positive. Eliminate the
negative.
Considering what
Paramore’s been through over the last fourteen months with the loss of two
original band members, Hayley’s tattoo is no doubt speaking from her personal experience
of having to deal with the usual breakup issues (you know, the
stuff where the ex says XYZ that isn’t necessarily true and yada, yada, yada).
No matter what type of breakup it is, there will always be negativity
associated with separations rooting from a difference of opinion and direction.
One of the reasons why I’ve always loved Paramore, and particularly Hayley Williams, is that they haven’t been afraid to say what’s needed to be said. A song like “Ignorance” may punch you in the face with lines like, “You treat me just like another stranger,” but that line’s quickly followed up with, “Well it’s nice to meet you sir, I guess I’ll go. I best be on my way out.” In other words, thanks-nice-to-meet-ya-I’m-outta-here, and I don’t want or need your negativity. When I’m angry at a situation, this is one of my go-to songs. :)
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The awesome pic the hubs
took of me while I jammed |
Another reason why
Paramore’s listed in my top favorite bands is because of their determination to
keep going, even during the rough times. Band members/friends come and go, a
clashing of opinions and/or direction will happen, and sacrifices will always
have to be made. And I’m sure that there may have been several moments where
the remaining band members have thought about quitting (I don’t know the band,
so this is purely an educated guess from a fan). But, obviously, they haven’t
quit. They
continue to persevere and keep going.
One way Paramore's done this is by eliminating the
negative and accentuating the positive.
They’re still a band
and they’re still recording music. Even though they’ve lost two major band
members, the three remaining members are moving forward and focusing their
efforts on making
a positive album – which is scheduled to be released in April – and giving
their fans what they want a need.
As a human being, an
individual, an artist, a woman, and a wife, I’ve taken a long hard look on the
inside after seeing Hayley’s tattoo yesterday, and I’ve pulled a lifelong
lesson and will now strive to live by that same motto tattooed on Hayley’s arm.
The lesson has been there all along, right in front of my face, right in front of
everyone’s faces. It’s a known law of the universe that if you put positivity out
into the world, positivity is what you’ll get back. *the epiphany moment where I slap palm to forehead*
So as a show of
commitment to myself and others of this particular change in my life, I put it
out there on Twitter.
Kristen Lamb followed up
with a response to this new-beginning-proclamation of mine:
As always, WANA Mama Kristen is
there to help support artists when they need it, and she’s 100%
right-on with this response. It’s exactly what I needed to hear. And I actually
like the way Kristen put it. So maybe I’ll end up adding another tattoo to my
mini-collection in the near future? :)
The bottom line of my
post today is this: Keep positive no matter what happens, no matter how
negative others are around you, no matter how many lemons life throws at you.
When you do this, you’ll continue to move forward on your life’s journey.
And always remember:
“It’s not the way you plan it, it’s how you make it happen.” – Paramore from “Hello Cold World”
So from this day
forward, I’m going to keep moving forward by keeping a positive mindset. And I
hope that many of my friends, both online and in real life, will hold me to
this. ‘Cause God knows I am in no way perfect. :)
Your turn: Have you struggled with keeping positive?
Have you had those moments where you’ve recommitted yourself to the journey
you’re on? What’s the best advice you’ve been given to help you stay positive?
