Some songs just stick out for the time and place that you first heard it or the moment that you realised there was a message in it for you or the point at which you saw the light or the sign. I have many of those songs and could probably make a list of a few of them, but the special moments happen when you hear it and all the memories come rushing back.
They aren't all necessarily good. I never understood why people played pop songs at funerals and ruined it for us for all of eternity. I've never recoved from a few of those moments.
Then there's this song ... unwritten!
It was just after Thanksgiving, even though we don't celebrate it here, in the summer of 2004. I was sitting in my temporary home, after my family home and business burned down and I moved out of where I was living when I discovered that my house mate was a drug addict and let strange men sleep in my bed while I was staying at my sister to be with my family straight after the fire. I had faked happiness for far too long and finally gave in to some therapy and a restart in life ... I think I had already sat with my friend and heard her story of how she wanted to do 'project me' and put herself first. Either way, this song reminds me of that perticular time in life when it was sink or swim and I chose to swim.
When I listened to the song today I felt worlds apart from the girl who was lost, confused, single and faking it far too much. Today I took a moment to think about all that was unwritten at that point and the story that is my life, written with each choice I make and moment I savour. At the same time, I realise that once again I'm back at the point where I'm unwritten again. Each day we wake up we have that blank page before us, just waiting to create the story of our lives.
Yesterday, I was talking to someone who was praising me for how far I have come in the world of social media. They didn't seem to see the value in my blog though and said that people aren't interested in reading all about me every day. In a nutshell, they seemed to think that no one really cared what I have to say but myself. It stirred at my emotions for a good few hours but then I found the gratitude in their comment because they are right ... this is for me! This blog is my blank page every day where I get to write my story.
The only thing I don't agree with is that it's not a reason for where I am in social media today or that it's not touching lives and making impact. Either way, the song reminded me of why project me was born in the first place and rekindled something about my power to put my story into words ... for me! If you're out there and you're listening then I hope you are writing your own story too ... even if you choose for no one to read it ... because each one of us is a story with ever turning pages!
I am unwritten
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Oh, oh
I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way, no
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/n/natasha-bedingfield-lyrics/unwritten-lyrics.html ]
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
To the years where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
To the years where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
