October - Waiting On The World To Change

Me and all my friends
We’re all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing, and
There’s no way we ever could
Now we see everything that’s going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
…

 

Hi, thinking out loud people :) I hope you’re having a good day! Now, this month’s song is a little different to what we had until now. But I love it. Ina found the song and it feels right to write about it, especially now where there’s so much stuff going on. I feel like the past two and a half years, basically since Covid kicked in, there has been so much going on that it’s crazy. Hard to keep track of. I mean, there was a lot of stuff going on before too, but since then it’s just different. You get the point.

Anyways – welcome to October and to “Waiting On The World To Change” by John Mayer.

 

John Mayer – a US-American song writer, singer, and guitarist. He wrote the song in 2006 (my birth year hehe :)) and in an interview he once said that with the song he doesn’t want to tell us what to do. I quote: “A song is… All I want a song to do is to present an idea…”. And that’s exactly what the song does, for me at least. It makes me think. It makes me reconsider. It grabs my attention.

 

When did you think “Why in heaven’s name????” for the last time? Besides annoying Maths homework or a stupid argument. In the context of what’s going on in the world. I have nothing to complain about, you know. I live a safe, wholesome life. I have a wonderful home, I have enough to drink and eat, my family has the money we need, and we live in a peaceful country, here in Austria. That’s pure luxury compared to what’s going on in Ukraine right now, for example.
But then you dig a little deeper and you start to get curious. There’s something devastating about it. Because you ask, you question things, you want to understand why these things are happening and you just don’t get to a point. Because it’s out of all comprehension. How does someone have the guts to attack a country where people get killed, families get torn apart, things get destroyed and then show up and say it’s the right thing to do? Of, course, everybody has and their opinion, but that’s different. That’s got to do with compassion. With humanity. Not just with each and everyone’s own opinion on what’s right for them and them alone.
Then, why do politicians do wrong things again and again? Politics shouldn’t be about the money. It’s about representing the population and doing what’s best for the country they have the control of, not what’s best for their party and their bank account. Humanity once again.
Why are there still jeans sold for five euros at cheap stores even though we know under what cruel conditions the people work in those factories in China or wherever?

Why, why, why...? So many questions that will lead you to nowhere but a state that’s beyond understanding.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to nag about politics because I feel neglected. I am saying that because everybody deserves fairness. And I mean what I say.

 

Mayer sings that "we see everything that’s going wrong with the world and those who lead it" but where should you start? Seriously, where?? What should a 16-year-old do with a teeny tiny blog post that’s out there in a mass of blogs and internet pages? I guess the best you can do is to hope it gets better. And then, when you have a chance to actually do something, take it. It’s even in the smallest decisions that you make a difference. You gotta start somewhere.

The best hope that I have is that more and more young people of our age become aware of the problems going on in the world. And that they spread this. And that the next generation is brave enough to do things differently. But that is pretty much a dream, let’s be honest. Because after the two world wars, the young people like us probably also hoped for a better future with the next generations. And here we go again, with a war that brings us nothing except innocent victims. People say you learn from history. But do you really?

Do you see where that’s going? Exactly. Nowhere big. It’s just ideas and thoughts. This is not like the other posts. Where we leave off with a positive message. It would be ignorant to leave out the parts that come with confusion and questions.

 

And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
‘Cause when they own the information
They can bend it all they want

 

How much fake news can you find on social media? It’s hard to stay away from it. Because your mind doesn’t go: “Oh, that’s fake!” as soon as you read it. Spreading things is easy nowadays, with all the technology. And then there’s so many crappy magazines and newspapers that just spill any gossip they could get. And even on TV, even the news channels, they just cannot be a hundred percent truthful. They always have to consider what’s bad to say in public because it could harm politics, or it could let too much nervosity arise or whatever. I once saw a speech of a minister for health who stuttered around like me when I’m nervous or excited, just because he was trying to avoid a sentence he wasn’t allowed to say in public – even though he knew himself, and you could see it on his face, that the true information was the right one and should be said. It’s sad, actually. There are good people up there in the parties. And there is so much potential in the ones who are on their way there. But when they’re in, things get complicated and messed up because the system has been messed up for years and years, and all the good intentions go down the hill because they get caught up in the middle of all the mess.

 

It’s not that we don’t care
We just know that the fight ain’t fair

 

It’s not fair. To keep us away from the truth. To act in favour of one’s own instead of at least considering the wellbeing us, the rest of the world. To tell lies into our faces because they think we don’t get it. And a lot of people really don’t get it. Otherwise, at least I think so, things could be a lot different, if the resistance were bigger. But making untruth look good is so easy. They just know what words to use, how to make it sound good for those listening. And we stand here, thinking “This isn’t fair, somebody STOP it!!” but what should you do? Like, what should you do?

 

I don’t know. Not really. It’s already crazy that we actually need to write about this. I just know that I want to keep asking questions and not believe everything right away when I hear it. And be willing to change my points of view too. To live consciously, thoughtful with the world around me and what traces I leave. And if I ever have kids, I want to teach them from the beginning on to do the same thing.
Would I rather like to pretend I didn’t know about these things and that everything is totally and a hundred percent fine? Maybe. I mean, I already noticed myself getting overwhelmed by these thoughts while writing. But if there’s one thing that I don’t want to give up, it’s to be brave and stay open and use what I’ve been given – the ability to be critical and think my own thoughts.

Still – In terms of this topic you really, really need to be careful to not lose yourself in all of it. It can be so frustrating. That’s where you need to be there for yourself and most of all, be honest with yourself. Willing to question these things, but not willing to let them take over you. Because you deserve to live a peaceful, joyful and happy life – no matter the circumstances. And if you’ve been given the chance to live such a life, then take it. Take it for all those people who don’t have this option, with the intention to do better, and most of all, take it for yourself <3

 

I know, this post turned out a little long, but I think it needed to be that long. We might not know more than we did before it, but maybe it just does enough to raise a bit of attention and make others see that we’re not alone in it. Thanks for the great song, John Mayer :)
By the way - in the interview from before, he also mentioned another song of the album, “Belief”. He said it goes hand in hand with “Waiting On The World To Change”. Maybe you want to listen to it too :) 

Thanks so much for reading!

 

 

Lots of love and positivity, Lina

Good day everyone!

 

So, writing this blog post is a bit more … I don’t want to say difficult, because really isn’t difficult. It just took a little more courage than usual, I guess.

 

Why is that, you may ask. Well, I just read Lina’s text for this month and I am astonished! She poured so many emotions and frustrations into this and you can really feel it while reading, in my opinion at least.

 

Our song for October is called “Waiting On The World To Change” by singer and songwriter John Mayer. (Funnily enough, my father has been listening to John Mayer a lot recently, so that’s a nice coincidence!) We, again, could barely decide on a song until we stumbled upon this gem. And now that I see what Lina did with it, I am a bit intimidated to be honest. But, I want to take a bit of a different approach to this song. Lina’s text is already packed with information, thoughts and very, very relevant, I think. So, I on the other hand, will distance myself a bit from politics and current world disasters.

 

Now we see everything that's going wrong

With the world and those who lead it

We just feel like we don't have the means

To rise above and beat it

 

I am sure I’m not the only one who has heard their parents say: “Look at all that’s gone wrong in this world. But your generation will fix it someday, I’m sure!”. I cannot count the times of how many times this has been said to me. And sure, it might me true, it might be empowering at first, but honestly, I’m just tired at this point. Who allowed the older generations to do whatever they want and then just let us fix the mess they left?! This may sound cynical, and you know what, maybe it is. Maybe I am just tired of problems piling up and being all around me everywhere. I can’t be the only one who sees this, right? Wherever you look, wherever you turn, there’s one crisis after the other. And most of the people in control will probably not even see the outcome and long term effects of all of this. But you know who will? Us, all of us who are young now. One day, when we’re older, we’ll have to face whatever will be left of the disasters going on around us now. That is unless, of course, we do something against it.

 

And I think that is what our parents mean when they say, we’ll take care of the world and make things whole again.

 

We keep on waiting

Waiting in the world to change

One day our generation

Is gonna rule the population

 

That’s right! One day our generation is gonna rule the population. One day its gonna be up to us to not make the same mistakes all over again. As difficult as it might be.

I believe that this whole topic in itself is one of these problems we have actually. Because there are the people who act the way I just described, and then there are the other ones. The ones who think us careless and stupid and lazy. The ones who seem to believe that our generation is good for nothing.

 

Me and all my friends
We’re all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing, and
There’s no way we ever could

 

People who want us to be more present and to stand up to repair what’s been broken so long ago, all the while ignoring the fact, that we actually are way more present in political, economical and generally worldly matters, than they were at our age.

So at this point I want to congratulate every young person who has ever heard any of these “accusations” even though you did, as a matter of fact, stand up for yourself and your future. I want to congratulate every single one of us, who are living through this whirlwind of a society today. You’re doing great!!

 

As negative as all of this may sound, I am very much aware of how lucky I am and how good my life is. As Lina mentioned, we live in Austria, a very safe and wealthy country, we have enough to eat and drink, we have homes and families, well everything we could wish for, basically. But, not everyone does! And I can have it as good as I possibly can here, I was not raised to be ignorant. I was raised to fight for what I believe in, to ask questions and not take everything I get fed on a silver spoon, because not all that glitters is gold. I was raised to do whatever is in my power to minimise injustice in this world. For everyone. And while these are great and noble causes and I couldn’t be more proud to follow my parents example of this as good as I can, it feels scary and daunting sometimes. Most of the time actually. It is incredibly hard to keep going and stay strong in a world that seems to be doing everything possible to take you down. In a world that is changing faster than ever before, so that most people don’t understand many of these changes anymore. (And that’s totally reasonable by the way, I just can’t stand ignorance. If you try to keep up and be tolerant, that’s already very good!).

 

It is perfectly plausible to feel powerless and hopeless sometimes. Most of the time, even. Believe me, I know the feeling! Things aren’t as easy as some people make them look. These struggles take a toll on you, they can be very unsettling and draining on your mental health and its obvious that barely anyone, I daresay no one, can deal with all of this without ever feeling powerless, like there’s no end to all this suffering in the world and losing hope. (At that note: take care of yourselves people!! You’re the only ones who can!)

 

I believe that the most important things to take from this mess I just presented to you are, to be tolerant, try your best to change things for the better (no matter how small and insignificant they may seem), and to take care of yourself. Because if we wear ourselves out to the very end and therefore can’t tackle this big, messy world, who will?

 

Thank you again to Lina for this amazing post, I’m still thinking about it! 😉

 

Have a nice day everyone and don’t despair, we’ll save the world one day!

 

Love, Ina