What Metallica taught me

Metallica. I guess the first thing that comes to mind when I read or hear or say Metallica is, in all honesty, bad hair, Enter Sandman and scary Mexicans. I went to their concert this week and left there thinking that Metallica is one of the coolest things to have happened to this planet. They started this ideal when they were 16 years old. And despite the trouble with all the bass players and despite the fact that, today, they are actually old grandpas jumping around to heavy rock, they still play every show like it’s their first. And they’re still as awesome as they were 3 decades ago.

I’m 23 years old and I can’t even stay up after midnight these days. My work schedule and my responsibilities have me thinking that my life has been set out and I might as well start flirting around, find a husband and get a-breedin’. I should probably save up, get an apartment and join a medical aid scheme with retirement benefits and a funeral plan. I find myself settling my mind on doing what I’m doing now for the rest of my life. And then I see these old men bouncing on stage and my entire viewpoint switches. They've been living the dream for about 33 years. And still, after every show, the four of them lock arms, wave at the crowd, and smile with pride and in awe of the effect they have had on thousands of people that night.

So why am I still sitting in this office running towards a mediocre life? Why do I get home every night and look at pictures of the world on pinterest if I could be out there exploring it? Why do I lock my mind on a stable life if the unstable ones are so much more exciting and fulfilling and enriching? I’ll tell you why.

Because we are born and raised in a world with tunnel vision. And the light at the end of the tunnel is just an oncoming train ready to hit you with responsibilities and disappointments. Because we live in a world where experience trumps education. Where getting ahead is only possible when you have the connections. And where making a true success is dependent entirely on your own creative skill and perseverance and commitment. So right now, the world is my oyster and I am gonna eat it. No matter how nauseating and downright disgusting it is.

The darkest hour will only come if we refuse to flower the light that has always burnt bright inside us. So decide, what would you die for? Then live every moment of your life like you were born into this life just to save it. There has never been a bomb built that could wilt the petals of your power when you allow yourself to bloom. When you bloom, there will be no room for anything else. So you’ve been curled up and sad? Good. Depression is the first blessing. It means you’ve been in tune. But now the moon is waiting for you to burn bright and there has never been a time when your light was needed more. Never a time like this before. – Andrea Gibson