Tupac Said It Best

I honestly can't articulate the amount of love that I have for Tupac right now. I can hardly contain the smiles while I listen to him sing to my heart. I don't know many people who get teary eyed when they listen to Tupac but I can certainly count myself amongst the few. The tears are trying to wiggle out of my eyes but I must refrain from their release in fear that my co-workers will think that I am some emotional basket-case who just broke up with a boyfriend or something else stereotypically feminine.

I think it all started this morning when I woke and and saw the powerful sun gleaming through the white blinds of my window. The start of a glorious new day began as I recalled a conversation that Dustin and I had yesterday. We were talking about how grateful we are to have two legs, two arms, a brain that functions and pretty much just how grateful we were to be so blessed with a body that works properly. Not everyone is that lucky and I don't ever want to take it for granted. I woke up very grateful for the day...TODAY that I have before me.

As I was nearing the 405 S. I was contemplating what artist was going to serenade me on my way to work. Tupac won my heart and I popped in his Greatest Hits Album. I entered my think mode (this is when I got lost in my thoughts and starting analyzing life and having self reflection moments) while listening to Keep Ya Head Up. This song went right along with my be grateful theme of the morning.

Listening to the lyrics reminded me of the drastically different life that some people live. I'm not saying that one is necessarily better than the other because I think there are so many things to learn from the various trials and experiences that people face due to adversity. Amidst Tupac's swearing I was able catch glimpses of what it would be like to live in someone else's shoes. The life of a gangster...how would my life be different? What person would I be if I had been born into different circumstances? At that moment I felt very naive about all that goes on in the world.

Here I am appearing to some as a spoiled and naive girl living in sunny California with a smile plastered on her face for the new day that awaits me. When somewhere out there, someone is waking up hating life and not wanting this new day to come. Though it will not have as much power with out the music, the lyrics below are some of the words that really got me thinking about other people, and how the reality in which they live is completely different than the one in which I exist.

From Tupac's "Keep Ya Head Up"

To all the ladies having babies on their own I know it's kinda rough and your feeling all alone.

Aint nothin worse than when your son wants to know why his daddy don't love him no more.

Ohh Child, things are gonna to get easier, ohh child things are gonna be brighter.

I try to find my friends, but they're blowin in the wind. Last night my buddy lost his whole family, it's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity.

While passing Culver Dr. I thought to myself, my Mom would not be pleased that I was listening to music that used such illustrative lyrics. Directly after I entertained that thought, I wondered to myself, why do I like Tupac so much? Why does my heart beat faster when I listen to him? The answer...I like understanding different cultures.

Tupac has had such a different life than I have. He was brought up in a culture that was so far from what I was raised with that. For me, listening to his music gives me a glimpse into his life and it is a way for me to try and understand the reality of someone other than myself.

So, I reverted back to my slightly ghetto days in high school and reclined my seat, turned up the volume to 40, rolled down the windows, dipped my left shoulder while my right hand was between 10 and 11 on the steering wheel, and enjoyed the man in the car next to me who was looking at me and probably wandering what in the world this little white girl with blonde hair and black sunglasses was doing bumpin to Tupac. The answer...experiencing diversity.