the challenge of music

i must thank the lovely erin prais-hintz for coming up with this beautiful idea! i'm so excited to see what everyone else has done and what song inspired them.

i have to admit, i started right away. i dug through my cds, i listened to every song on my i-pod. i seriously considered doing three necklaces inspired by three different songs. but sanity reigned and i chose 'the middle' by jimmy eat world.

i've always felt a connection with this song, like i was the one who needed to hang on. i had just given up my dream of being an art therapist, a dream i'd had since high school. i first heard this song right after 9/11 and there was this cloud of darkness settling itself over the country. my depression at this time had led me to consider suicide, and here was this song telling me not to "write myself off yet/it's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on." this song made me think maybe i wasn't such a lost cause. i definitely needed the reminder that it's gonna be all right, if i would just hang on. here are the lyrics.

The Middle lyricsSongwriters: Adkins, James; Burch, Richard; Lind, Zachary; Linton, Thomas
Hey, don't write yourself off yet/It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on/Just try your best, try everything you can/And don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away

It just takes some time/Little girl you're in the middle of the ride/Everything, everything will be just fine/Everything, everything will be alright, alright

Hey, you know they're all the same/You know you're doing better on your own, so don't buy in/Live right now, yeah, just be yourself/It doesn't matter if it's good enough for someone else

It just takes some time/Little girl you're in the middle of the ride/Everything, everything will be just fine/Everything, everything will be alright, alright

It just takes some time/Little girl you're in the middle of the ride/Everything, everything will be just fine/Everything, everything will be alright, alright

Hey, don't write yourself off yet/It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on/Just do your best, do everything you can/And don't you worry what the bitter hearts are gonna say

It just takes some time/Little girl you're in the middle of the ride/Everything, everything will be just fine/Everything, everything will be alright, alright

It just takes some time/Little girl you're in the middle of the ride/Everything, everything will be just fine/Everything, everything will be alright, alright

when i did a little research on wiki i found that the band wrote this song after they'd been dropped after their first album was a total hit. they felt betrayed and belittled and totally like everything was spinning out of control. so they decided to produce this single themselves, and it hit the top 20. and then they got picked up by another producer, a producer who listened to them and wanted them to make the music that they wanted to make. so. it was better in the end.

pretty profound life lesson, there. deep songwriting at it's best. just hang on. it will get better.

so here's the focal i made. i drew out my design idea on paper and then drew with a sharpie on the copper, refining the shape until i got something i thought would be comfortable. then i cut it out, hammered it and added the words. i wanted the words to be black so instead of liver of sulpher i used a sharpie, sanded it all to make it matte, and added the holes.

then i added this little key, as a reminder that just holding on is the key for me. all things pass, the hard times, too. i used a pretty little enamel headpin.

then i added this wing. it symbolizes that when you're holding on, you're flying.

life comes with the good and the bad.

the circle of life, twisted paths and clearings along the road.

so that was my journey this month. i still need to remember and implement this lesson. it's a good lesson, don't you think?

i hope you enjoy this blog hop as much as i enjoyed working on this challenge. again, thank you, erin. i wouldn't have stretched myself in this manner without you.

now go, visit the next blog!

Erin Prais-Hintz

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Christine Altmiller
Elisabeth Auld
LJ B
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Cece Cormier
Jenny Davies-Reazor
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Beth Emery
Michelle Escano-Caballero
Erin Fickert-Rowland
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Amy Grass
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