Thursday

Speak now.. or forever hold your peace.

So.. today I bought Taylor Swift's new album. I am sure some of you are thinking "gag" and some of you are thinking "me too!". I like it, but I know many people think otherwise of Taylor Swift's music. That's ok, we all are entitled to our own opinions, interests, and tastes. I am not here to promote her in any way... I only bring her up because she is the inspiration of the subject I want to talk about.

Speak now. That is the title to her new album. When I heard her new song, "Speak Now," I wondered why in the free world she named her album after that of all songs. It is a little weird. I didn't like it... at first. 

But then I read the prologue to her album. I will just quote it verbatim, she said it all way better than I could:

"'Speak now, or forever hold your peace,' the words said by preachers at the end of wedding ceremonies all over the world, right before the vows. It's a last chance for protest, a moment that makes everyone's heart race... So many fantacize about bursting into a church, saying what they'd kept inside for years like the movies. In real life, it rarely happens. 


Real life is a funny thing, you know. In real life, saying the right thing at the right moment is beyond crucial. So crucial, in fact, that most of us start to hesitate, for fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. But lately what I have begun to fear more than that is letting the moment pass without saying anything. 


I think most of us fear reaching the end of our life, and looking back regretting the moments we didn't speak up.  When we didn't say 'I love you.' When we should've said 'I'm sorry.' When we didn't stand up for ourselves or someone who needed help....

Words can break someone into a million pieces, but they can also put them back together. I hope you use yours for good, because the only words you'll regret more than the ones left unsaid are the ones you use to intentionally hurt someone.

What you say might be too much for some people. Maybe it will come out all wrong and you'll stutter and you'll walk away embarrassed, wincing as you play it all back in your head. But I think the words you stop yourself from saying are the ones that will haunt you the longest.

So say it to them. Or say it to yourself in the mirror. Say it in a letter you'll never send or in a book millions might read someday. I think you deserve to look back on your life without a chorus of resounding voices saying 'I could've, but it's too late now.' 

There is a time for silence. There is a time waiting your turn. But if you know how you feel, and you so clearly know what you need to say, you'll know it. 

I don't think you should wait. I THINK YOU SHOULD SPEAK NOW."
-Taylor Swift   

Brilliant. The girl is brilliant. I love that idea- speak now. I have a new found love for the song. There is a lyric in the song that says, "you need to hear me out and they said speak now." I will try to adopt that philosophy into my life (using it for good of course, there are always times to hold your tongue if you want to say something hurtful to someone). That line will hopefully be my anthem for saying how I feel when my fears and insecurities hold me back, as I all too often hold my feelings inside. Not to mention, I hope to use it to help me remember to be quicker to say I'm sorry and more eager to remind those I love how much they mean to me. No reason to hold all of that inside when it can do so much good being spoken aloud.

I hope you will take that in to account as well :)

I think whether or not we are a fan of hers, we can all agree with and maybe relate to what she said. I know I can do a much better job of speaking now. Do it, don't hold back. Don't hold it in, and don't find yourself living in regret because you wouldn't just say it.


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Misty! I love this! I'm glad I randomly stopped in to read it. :) I definitely try to live by this.. because I can't tell you how many times I've wanted SO badly to say something, to speak my mind - whether it's in disagreement or really deep feelings - but haven't been able to get it out. And I have regretted it EVERY TIME. I swear there has never been a time when I have spoken up and said something I wanted to say and then left thinking, 'I should've just kept my mouth shut...'. Maybe sometimes I leave a bit embarrassed, but always, with time, I'm glad that I got out what I wanted to say. Because then you never have to wonder, 'What if I HAD said that?'. [In fact, I followed this way of life tonight!] In the words of John Mayer, "It's better to say too much than never to say what you need to say". :) Love you!