Quotes on Music

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent” 
― Victor Hugo

Lately music has been a big part of my life. So, here are some quotes on the topic.

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination
and life to everything.” 
― Plato

“If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC” 
―  Kurt Vonnegut

“A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” 
― Leopold Stokowski

“Music is the universal language of mankind.” 
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Mozart's Requiem

Last Saturday I spent about an hour listening to Mozart's Requiem. I didn't do anything else at the same time, I just closed my eyes and really listened.
This post is about my feelings as I listened. I do not know the lyrics, so these feelings aren't based on what the song actually says. It is based solely on the feelings I had as I remembered the death of my people, and listened to this funeral mass, combined with the knowledge I have of the afterlife.
It amazes me how Mozart expressed death so well.
The initial numbness and inability to understand that a loved one is dead.The feeling as you look at the body of a loved one, and it just starts to sink in that you won't ever see them again in this life. Their warm hug, their funny jokes, the comfort they give.
The feeling of how unfair this is, of how this might as well be forever. How barren life will be without them.
The uncertainty of what happens after death. The wrenching pain of imagining never being with them again.
Then, the feeling of peace when you start to really remember the promise of eternal life. How they are free from the struggles and turmoils of mortal life.
The hope of being with them again.
The plea to join them again. The plea to be forgiven for mortal inadequacies, and to be restored to divine life.

Crimson Days

My brother listens to Avenged Sevenfold a lot. When he's cleaning the kitchen, we can hear it playing through the whole house. He got the album Hail to the King recently, and I like what I know of it so far. One of the songs that I really love is Crimson Days.
So, here's a link to listen to it, with lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qluJXYlgCIw

I think it's really beautiful.

Quotes on Hope

“Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances which we know to be desperate.” 
- G.K. Chesterton


This quote is interesting. I have defined hope as the willingness to act upon a wish and make it a reality before. But there are multiple definitions of hope. In addition to the one above, here are couple more to think about:

Dictionary.com says,
"the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope"

Webster's 1828 Dictionary says ,
"Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God's gracious promises; a scriptural sense."

What This Semester Of Schooling Has Taught Me

School started. It's been amazing. Just like I expected.
At the beginning of the year I was a little overwhelmed, mainly because I had gotten out of the habit of keeping up on assignments and remembering what is due when. Also, I started doing classes in a new school, so I had to try to get used to using the new website. But I'm getting used to stuff again, and my classes have been so great.
There are two classes in particular that have made me think, and realize just how complacent I often am in my own thinking. An example of this is when my teacher asked us to define what family is, in the context of family being a necessary pillar of freedom as a society. I went into class expecting to have to think a little harder today, but when I asked myself this question, I really didn't know.
Of course my first response was a family is a man and a woman with children. Pretty basic stuff, right?
But then I started thinking more. What about those families where a parent is abusive? What about the impossibility of having two parents? What about a couple unable to have children?
There are many more considerations that we thought about, and I don't feel like sharing my conclusion with you. Because that's not the point of this post, and you should probably make your own conclusion on this.
The real point of this post is that education comes through us thinking and using our own minds to try to make sense of what we learn. It isn't what teachers give us. It's what we make of it.
Going back to the family question, if I had just listened to the teacher and the other classmates I wouldn't have gotten very much out of it. I would have been like, "Okay, I guess this is what a family is." Participating in this allowed me to realize that this is a complex situation that requires us to try and understand the viewpoints of others and of our own selves. It allowed me to view my own thought process more clearly. It allowed me to gain further capacity for critical analysis of different things in the future.
As part of a midterm message about working on assignments and such, my teacher Mr. Szczesny sent this to all of his students:
"The content you learn is one thing, but the study habits you learn are another and more potent thing."

The Messenger

As part of my new blog post schedule, I'm posting a song today!

I was listening to music today, and The Messenger by Linkin Park came on. I love this song. It's really, really beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSrYh5jmxzw

Shnazzy Up!

I am part of a service organization (called Shnazzy Up!), which one of my friends from school started about two years ago. Mostly what I do is organize service projects every month, and attend monthly meetings. While I'm afraid I do not organize these projects as steadily as I should, it does help me to focus more on service.
This organization is for youth from 12-18. It is managed and run entirely by youth. Only youth participate, with the exception that adults sometimes provide transportation, take photographs, and other such things.
This month I'm working on planning a project to help make "blessing bags", as shown in this blog post:
http://kwavs.blogspot.com/2011/05/blessing-bags-how-to.html

If any youth want to get involved, you can contact the creator through this website:
http://www.shnazzyup.com/
He is a marvelous guy, and will be happy to help you get to know more about it. Also, you can ask me questions you have. :)

Post Schedule

Good morning! This semester is my first experience with official high-school classes (which I'm taking along with my other school classes, Seminary, family responsibilities, and personal interests), and I'm terribly busy. I also want to post more often, though, because I really love this blog and am afraid I'll forget to post at all if I don't post more often. So I created a schedule of different types of posts. On Mondays I plan to make a regular post. On Wednesdays I plan to share a quote of some sort. On Fridays I plan to share a song or piece of music that I enjoy. Do you have any thoughts on this schedule?