Essay on "My Life Reflected Through Music"

Quoted Instructions for "My Life Reflected Through Music" Assignment:

Must be in 5 paragraph essay form. Just one reference, the Song you pick. Please write from a white guys point of view because the prof knows I*****'m not an asian female for example. I think bullshitting the essay is fine so long as it reads well. Please proofread it well because I won*****'t have time before I turn it in, due at 4 PM. Sorry about the short notice, please do your best because a passing grade in the class depends on it.

Here is a sample.

MY IDENTITY REFLECTED IN MUSIC

The song *****"Clay and Water*****" reflects my personal identity. *****"Clay and Water*****" was released

by the Christian recording artist Margaret Becker on her 1998 album Fal ing Forward. *****"Clay and

Water*****" expresses both uncertainty regarding human experience and confidence in God, the source

of grace. The song correlates to key aspects of my essence including my relationships, personality

traits and spiritual beliefs.

I don*****'t feel old, but my personal relationships reveal that I have been living longer than I

sometimes realize. *****"Clay and Water*****" refers to the fact that time is relative, and our experience of it

is primarily measured in people and events rather than by the calendar. As the lyrics say, *****"These

days are passing over me, at the speed of light.*****" I remember the day so clearly when my firstborn

son came into the world. At first sight, I thought he looked like a little, wiggly alien! Now he is

ready to graduate from high school and enter university as an engineering student. Where has the

time gone, and where is it going? My other four children wil fol ow immediately after him--they

were born at 15 month, 23 month and 33 month increments. Margaret Becker sings, *****"Like water

on the wind I sense the change to come.*****" This phrase symbolizes the actuality that in only a few

short years, I wil be an empty nester. On quiet nights when everyone is away at their activities, in

my mind*****'s eye I imagine what it wil be like when this big, bustling family comes back to just my

husband and I.



*****"Clay and Water*****" describes the random abstract, spontaneous and wander-lusting aspects

of my personality. I plan and create in webs of thought. Because I am a random abstract thinker, I

find it very difficult to work on a project with other people. While I am *****"in-process*****" on a project, I

organize al the aspects of the project simultaneously in stacks. I don*****'t always start at the

beginning of a project and work to the end of it; I work on a little here and a little there until al my

stacks are shifted to one *****"done*****" pile. My random abstract way of thinking translates to my

behavior and my life story. I often make comments to friends and family that are obliquely related

to the topic of conversation, or even to something I saw rather than to something that was stated.

As a result, others interpret my comments as *****"off the wal *****" or unconnected to the flow of

conversation. In life, my random abstract approach and spontaneity have led to location, career

and hobby changes. My husband and I moved eleven times in our first eight years of marriage.

I*****'ve worked in many different jobs from McDonald*****'s manager to nurses*****' aide, and in the past twenty

years I*****'ve been a cross-stitcher, scrapbooker, quilter, rabbit breeder, dog trainer, and backpacker.

I tend to be very passionate about activities when I first start them, but my enthusiasm doesn*****'t

translate into energy for the long haul.

This song expresses understanding of the fragility of life and utter confidence in the

Almighty. I believe that God is creator, sustainer and redeemer. He loves what he has made, and

he longs to draw his loved ones close. *****"Clay and Water*****" states, *****"Nothing ever stays the same, the

wheel wil always turn. I feel the fire in the change, but somehow it doesn*****'t burn.*****" When I consider

the painful experiences in my life, including near-death caused by kidney failure at age ten and

miscarriages of my first two babies, I realize that if God had al owed those events to burn me, I

would stil be scarred. In truth, I remember the most tragic times in my life as formative rather than

destructive. Those terrible times are not wounds, but vehicles that carry me to new mental,

emotional and spiritual heights.

Sometimes the experiences of life are so awesome, in good and bad ways that, as *****"Clay

and Water*****" uses the expression, *****"I*****'m silenced at the sight.*****" This song reveals the complexity of my

relationships and personality, while reinforcing the simple, overarching truth that rules my life; I am

made by God, owned by him, the events of my life are ordered by him. Because of this fact, I feel I

am cal ed to live responsibly and compassionately in regard to everyone in my circle of influence.

Margaret Becker puts it this way, *****"I wil live from my heart, and I wil catch the lines of love as they

come.*****" Life is exhilarating and exhausting because it is unpredictable and wonderful, and I look

forward to what awaits.

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itMn3wvUUs8

*****"Clay and Water*****"

These days are passing over me

At the speed of light

And sanding here in their shadows

I*****'m silenced at the sight

Like water on the wind I sense the change to come

All that I*****'ve held in like teardrops run

I am clay and I am water

Falling forward in this order

While the world spins *****'round so fast

Slowly I*****'m becoming who I am

Nothing ever stays the same

The wheel will always turn

I feel the fire in the change

But somehow it doesn*****'t burn

Like a beggar blessed I stumble in the Grace

Reaching out my hand for what awaits

CHORUS

I will live

From my heart

And I will catch the lines of love as they come

Back to You

I know they*****'ll lead

And into You

I know I*****'ll lean