Past in Present...

The title of this post refers to one of my favorite songs, by Feist. The first time I heard it, I understood every word. By understood, I mean BOTH that I could hear all the words clearly AND that I knew what they meant. Mind you, this is no small feat for me. Rewind back to Mariah Carey, circa 1994. "Dreamlover" was tearing up the air waves (yes, I just said that). As I sang along, I heard, "Because I wanna ship a river with you baby!!!!" Of course, this was nowhere near the actual lyrics, "Because I wanna share forever with you baby!" No...I don't know what it means to ship a river. I figured Mariah did and she's the multi-platinum artist, no? When my 9 year old sister accurately sang the lyrics and scoffed at my 13 year old interpretation, you can only imagine my mortification...

Sooooo....here we are with "Past in Present" lyrics. I mean, without hearing anymore of the song, you could probably crack the nut just from the title. But, the vivid symbolism in the short diddy fleshes out the meaning. Why I find it so meaningful is because it pretty much sums up my life's motto. Well, some of it...the rest is still in development.

I teach history. I love it. I mean, freakishly so. Not because I know it very well, not because I think FDR was the best man ever (BARF) or because I stunk at math and science (mostly true...). I love it because it's truly amazing to me how pretty much every decision that we make as people, leaders and nations has been done before. However, each of us is wonderfully and uniquely made. Even though the scenarios throughout time are the same, the problems are the same, the triumphs are the same: we are all different. Thus my fascination at how it all works out.

Which brings me to how it epitomizes the non-work part of my life (which will hopefully balance out proportionally as I teach a little more...) There's so much of my family in me. So much of my friends in me. Our shared experiences. Their experiences that determined how they interacted with me (and vice versa). Some of these experiences I'm aware of, many of them I'm not. All of them, the Past, inform and shape, the Present.

Sigh, how perfect. Well, maybe not for you. Now that I'm reading it and typing it, I realize it seems kinda nerdy or maybe oversimplified. However, I'm sure, at the very least, you can relate to that one song that just does it for you. You get it. It relates to your life. It makes perfect sense for you life. Those are the best ones!

(the lyrics, in case your interested: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Past-in-Present-lyrics-Feist/9287312CE11F0D72482572AF00054516)