I want to start this post by giving a “Shout Down” to my least favorite recording artist hitting the airwaves right now: Bruno Mars. I don’t dislike him because of his goofy name or his extensive fedora collection (although both of those would be valid reasons). Instead, it is because of his hit song titled “The Lazy Song.” The chorus goes as follows:
“Today I don’t feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don’t feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone
‘Cause today I swear I’m not doing anything”
Bruno Mars has the freedom to write the lyrics that he does and to even do exactly what the song says; be lazy! I really don’t care what he does on a day-to-day basis, but I am concerned that the message in this song demonstrates an underlying feeling that many young people here in the United States are identifying with. Instead of wanting to see positive change in their lives, neighborhoods, and world, they would rather “lay in bed…not doing anything.”
Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who was a survivor of the Holocaust. During his time in the concentration camps, he chose to focus on finding meaning in everything that was taking place around him. His experiences inspired him to write a book entitled “Man’s Search For Meaning”, where he described how he used his mind to focus on surviving during the most extreme conditions imaginable.
There is a part in the book where Frankl says that the United States should have a “Statue of Responsibility” built on the West Coast to match up with the Statue of Liberty that we already have on the East Coast. He was trying to show that when you are blessed with liberty, there is a burden of responsibility that comes with it.
When I hear stories like Viktor Frankl’s, it inspires me to not take for granted the freedom that we enjoy in this country. Instead of being lazy, staying in bed, and doing nothing, I believe we should rise to the challenge and find ways to make our lives, and those around us, better. It is our responsibility.
Nate Yokers