Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today... Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one I'm sure most of us remember these lyrics fondly, as well as the man who penned them - John Lennon. This one little song was powerful enough to act as the anthem of an anti-war movement. And why not, right? After all, it was written by a man who was almost deported for his criticism of the Vietnam war & an administration (Read: Nixon, Watergate) already mired in corruption. Although the idea of a Utopian world comes with its own set of strong critics & criticisms, it is not without merit. We all want to live in a world where peace reigns supreme; men & women of every class, caste or race are equal; & the world's worst problem is boredom. And although I sound sarcastic, I am one who longs for exactly that. What we need to understand is our current situation emerged out of someone else's dream for a better world, a little more than half a century ago. That person was Adolf Hitler & the world we live in is still suffering from the after-effects of his utopian fantasy. So, who's to decide what "perfect" involves? Do we really want to give 1 person or 1 organization the power to decide the future of 6 billion others? All I can say is treat 'Imagine' the way it was supposed to be treated - as a moving song of hope, full of pretty, inspirational words, produced primarily for commercial purposes. Let's not treat it as the anthem for the universal struggle for peace. [Name of the Song: Imagine Name of singer/songwriter: John Lennon The lyrics posted are not of my own making & I am not taking credit for it either, merely using it as a reference. If it seems otherwise, you have my sincerest apologies]
I've been a Reader for as long as I've been able to put a word together. I was "the fastest & most promising reader" in whatever grade I was in. But all I've ever wanted to do was write. I even took a few baby steps, with a few articles in the school magazine...but nothing that really helped jumpstart me. So I went back to being just a reader. By age 12, I had probably read 50 of the 100 books in the BBC Reading list, a number I have managed to add only 10 more to in as many years. I've stagnated. Makes me feel claustrophic - like I can't get in enough air - but that still doesn't help me read or write anything intelligent anymore. I still dream of putting pen to paper, & weaving magical tales about characters I intimately know but don't have the strength to share. I don't know how long it will take &, given my current state, I'm not feeling very optimistic about it. All I know is it will happen. One way or anther - even if I'm 80 years old with arthritic fingers - I will tell my story. ---------------------------------------------- Since this was my first blog post, I tried to give as good of an introduction of myself as I could manage. Although I'm sure not many of you will read it, I'm thankful to this forum for giving me this space. **bows** Arigatou