On My Mind: Live Your Life…

I’ve recently subscribed to a YouTube Channel of a young man Mikey Murphy who runs a very popular channel. I’ve actually gotten familiar with his channel through his mom and dad, who I knew from high school…along with his aunt…all wonderful people…and based on the content that I see coming from Mikey’s channel, I know from his wisdom, good-nature and vivacious smile, it all runs in the family. Not to mention, this channel was started in New Jersey, which earns him another thumbs up as one more creative talent the Garden State can be proud of.

With close to 240,000 subscribers and eight million channel views…this innovative teen is already going places as an inspiration and role model to youth…and quite honestly he can be an inspiration to everyone for that matter.

As a parent I have come to realize, we do need to step back and look at the world through the eyes of our youngsters. I listen to my kids and their insights into the world and things that they say, for example, and no matter how dark a day may look, their perspective brings it all back into perspective. Maybe life has jaded us in some way or another and we forgot the promises and the dreams that may have been a part of our makeup back in the days when time seemed endless.

With more than 1,000 Facebook friends, I often see a lot of ranting on social media. And sometimes we all need a good vent or cry…and sometimes we all try to microwave our experiences to get past the pains of our life. Who wants to go through bad experiences anyway? I know I sure don’t like it. Whether it’s a job loss, passing of a loved one, divorce, car accident, financial troubles, health issues, arguments with someone we care about, being jerked over, breakups…none of it is fun…

At the same time I’ve learned, these setbacks we might experience in our lives are opportunities for growth and also to help others.

And of course…there are good things too…why do we want to rush those moments? Don’t they go quickly enough as it is?

I for one…and many just see me as the girl with the camera and notepad…have gone through my own trials over the years…and though it’s been hard sometimes, at the same time…I always believe the sometimes clichéd statement…”everything happens for a reason.”

Everything sure does…

The quote that has floated around especially online over the last several years, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…it’s learning to dance in the rain,” comes to mind as well with the many thoughts I’ve had on this topic…which to me is simply the importance of living our lives.

How true is that? Those dances in the rain can be healing for our spirits…rain can be symbolic of pain but water is also representative of cleansing…and taking those experiences that may be causing us the pain during the storms…will only make us stronger and more appreciative of those rainbows and those rays of sun that beam down once the storm has passed. Rain can offer us a fresh start actually and make everything new and green.

Back to Mikey Murphy, who was the inspiration for this post with his video, “I’m Not Living My Life,” which now has over 92,000 views on YouTube. Yes, 92,000 views. I have reached this one on of my YouTube channels that I run with videos of Marilyn Monroe (close to 90,000 views on my particular video…but that is over several years). Mikey’s more than 92,000 was reached within a week…not even mentioning his other video released two weeks ago with close to a million views “My Life Is A Fail.” Like I said, this young man is going places at a young age…we all could learn from him…in “My Life Is A Fail,” he reminds us that we all have bad days and that the next day we can all have good days…shouldn’t we all remind ourselves of that when life seems to be filled with hardships? That tomorrow is a good day? Not to mention, his videos elicit smiles because he’s just a fun and good kid…

But as Mikey said in the video below…it took some time for him to put this video together…and then he simply set up his camera and started speaking…and that’s because I know what he said was really profound and his message will touch a lot of lives and hearts if it hasn’t already…

At 16 years old, he has recounted his lessons learned, which he has said, has made him “more and more of a person.”

“I didn’t rush any of that,” he explained about his past life lessons, “I kept all of those experiences in my mind. I enjoyed every minute. I didn’t try to skip over anything.”

YouTube has become a career for Mikey while he is still in high school, he further shared…and he is thinking a lot about his future…including a move to Los Angeles to further his creative endeavors in acting and writing…

But in the meantime, Mikey, in young years…has already seen what many of us way beyond his years have missed. That so many of us are looking to fast forward past certain moments of our lives to reach something that may be our goal…or a time that we believe might be better than what we’re experiencing now.

“So rather than sitting here looking around, enjoying the people around me, enjoying the experiences I’m being offered already, I’m focusing so much on the future,” Mikey added.

How many of us still do that? We rush through the current experiences to get to what we consider the means to an end or the end. Maybe we’re just so excited to get to “the end” or the “finish line,” because we are sometimes so goal-oriented in our society that we are looking just at the victory. Or, is it something upsetting that we feel “we just want to get through this and can’t wait until it’s over so things will be better?” If the latter, how many gifts are we missing between those raindrops? And how much can we learn from all of our adventures in life overall as we are going through them?

I can’t tell you how many statuses I saw on and around and even after New Year’s Day that expressed similar sentiments…”I’m so glad 2014 is over,” so many lamented. “I hope 2015 is better.”

I will say that 2014 was a rough one for me as well. There were some things that carried over from some previous years. And there were new hurdles that cropped up in 2014. At the same time, there were many blessings I am grateful for. As a result of some events, I branched out in 2013, for example…and started NJInsideScene.com. In the process of venturing in this direction and shedding some not-so-positive circumstances and individuals…other blessings crossed my path. And as a believer in God, I feel that we need to keep our eyes open for these good things as we’re experiencing the rough stuff and simply keep running the race…

Among them for me through 2014:

• NJInsideScene.com has experienced a positive welcome into many communities and with many individuals overall and has developed a following…
• I was asked to work with Reuters twice too…once in 2013 and then 2014 in a special election reporting program…in the second round I was the State Director of the program for New Jersey, working with a phenomenal team to deliver election results…
• In 2013 I was asked…after speaking with them about four years prior…to become an Arcadia Publishing author…and in 2014 my Images of America book, “Stanhope and Byram” came to life. It’s enjoying its run throughout this area…I’ve had book signings, radio appearances and other cool happenings…forged some awesome relationships too…I look forward to more…
• I wrote a book about Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, “Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio – Love In Japan, Korea & Beyond,” that I published myself within two months…with that too I’ve met some great folks…some in my own backyard and some from around the globe, virtually of course…then again, one of those virtual folks I was able to meet in real life and I was interviewed for his film, What Ever Happened to Norma Jeane? as a result…what an amazing honor in my eyes…
• I picked up and expanded on a simple story that I had written as a teenager…and it’s now more than 70,000 words…a fiction story…I haven’t written fiction in years but I felt the calling to rework this story last spring…some may scoff at a news reporter writing fiction but to me, it’s been a great diversion and I’m looking forward to publishing this book…along with some other projects of mine in the pipeline…
• With all of the above, fantastic people and experiences have crossed my path that I wouldn’t have been blessed with had I not jumped in some puddles and decided to dance in the rain…my life is richer and better from it all…and I know more blessings will come as a result…
• There were other miscellaneous freelance projects that I worked on in PR, writing and editing…

“Everything I do over the next year and a half, is going to be just as important as any other time in my entire life, whether it’s already been experienced, or whether it’s going to be experienced,” Mikey also said.

Wise beyond his years and something we all need to take into account as we navigate our way through this life…that this moment…right now…totally counts and will influence what happens to us in the future…not just a year and a half but tomorrow too.

“So in other words, me trying to skip over this next year and a half,” Mikey continued, “me just trying to rush through it, so I can get out of high school and get on with my life, I’m going to be missing out on a lot of things. And I’m starting to realize that’s what I’m already doing. I’m starting to create tunnel vision, I’m starting to create this view, that all I see is what I want to do, rather than all the other things that I have to experience.”

Thank you Mikey…your words resonate here and I know with so many of us who are old enough who could be your parent too. How many of us…readers and those who know me as a friend…try to rush to the end result? How many of us tried to rush to the end when we were Mikey’s age and still try to plow forward very quickly?

I often have to remind my own kids of this and the importance of what Mikey described as the act of jumping and skipping over things to get to our goal. Sometimes we just need to wait it out…as Mikey reminded us with something that is often proverbial and that we don’t take seriously enough but so true is that “patience is a virtue.”

Aren’t things so much better when we’re not rushing through them? When we make rash decisions, doesn’t a positive outcome always take longer? Or don’t we need to start over again sometimes.

When we sit back, even in the hard moments and take a prayerful deep breath and then take that leap of faith…isn’t it so much better than knee-jerk reacting?

I have readers of all ages reading my post…for those who are younger…why not subscribe to Mikey’s channel? I think you’ll find a lot of wisdom and positivity…he even has a great video about the subject of having been bullied, which also has a positive message and how he has endured and triumphed over it…and like the video that inspired this post, also has put a lot of thought and heart into what he has said to inspire his viewers.

For those of us who have passed Mikey’s age group…and even those who are in his generation and are reading…since music is a way for me to sometimes personally express and make sense of some things in life…why not enjoy these two videos below…

One is John Mayer’s song, “No Such Thing.” For those who follow NJInsideScene, this is a song you might have noticed that I used in my promotional video when I first launched this site. It’s a song that to me shows promise. For someone who started professionally writing at a later time in life (those who know something about my life story, my dream was deferred when I dealt with pushback from my elders, telling me I needed to embark on “practical” endeavors…life brought me back into the creative path and for that…I’m so grateful that I never lost the dreams in my heart…and along the way, I’ve experienced different things in my field…from book writing to content writing to news writing to photography and more…).

We all can be reminded, no matter our age as the song says, “I’d like to think the best of me is hiding up my sleeve…they love to tell you to stay inside the lines…but something’s better on the other side…”

As someone who had others trying to dictate my path…and be condescending towards me in the process…and some of you may have experienced the same…or maybe you’ve had a rough time…or maybe you were the rough time towards someone in your life…remember there’s always a new day and these experiences help us to grow each and every day…and healing and forgiveness do exist though sometimes they can take time to manifest…

As a writer I can put it this way…there is always a blank page to write your story on. Make your story count. Make it detailed. Make it rich. Make it meaningful. Learn from it. Help others to benefit from the things that you do in this world…step outside of your comfort zone…learn from that path yourself and forge forward in a positive direction…

And here’s another something for all of us…another song for every age group actually…Five for Fighting’s song “100 Years.” It walks us through every stage of life…how quickly life passes…the world might consider us early in one area or a late-bloomer in the other…but we should never give up on our hopes and dreams no matter how long they may take…and as Mikey reminded, never rush through the stages of our life…or we may miss some very special things…

We can learn through every experience…and be better for it, no matter how much time has passed or far advanced we feel our life is…

On My Mind: First…thanks Mikey. 🙂 To everyone reading: live your life…take in every experience…celebrate your triumphs, no matter how small…learn from life and each experience and gain from it…dance in the rain and celebrate the sunshine…I hope this post has inspired you and can help lift and inspire you or someone that you may know…I hope you enjoy the featured photo too that I took when I was in Runyon Canyon Park overlooking Los Angeles. It took a long time to climb to that vista…I will say it was steep, my legs hurt sometimes…I needed a lot of water along the way…but it was worth it. May it be a reminder to keep climbing no matter how hard it may seem sometimes…then stand back and enjoy the view as you make your way through life….and always remember that good things are ahead of you…

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