Don't Stop Believin'

Hello Karibu Blog! I’m making my first move in the blog world with a little bit of hesitancy because my long-winded, hilarious older sister has kept everyone laughing for the last few months. But alas, I am laying down my blog-writing fears in the name of Summer 2008 – a summer shaped by nepotism at the expense of 126,356 miles on the Infiniti and graduate school-induced mood swings at the expense of my parents’ happiness. All whining aside, this has been the single most significant summer of my 22 years and you need only reference the above picture to understand why:

This is not a picture of the latest Beth Moore study or of David Boren announcing that two horrendous summer classes are all that is required to obtain a MSW.
This is a photo of the band JOURNEY.

Lauren and I are of the philosophy that music is the soundtrack of our lives. We buy songs on itunes, burn them to CDs, and shamelessly play them on repeat in our cars until the sound of Enrique Igelsias asking to be our hero becomes too nauseating to be funny. In fact, we like to pretend our lives are a television series on the WB that starts off with a heart-wrenching theme song and clips of us walking and laughing along the beach in North Carolina. I kid. No really, they already made that show and it was fabulous.

The point is that we take our music seriously. We don’t just appreciate good music. We look for the deeper meaning behind it and then contemplate ways to apply it to our daily lives. And from this appreciation and contemplation came a summer filled with moments of sheer frustration, occasional embarrassment, ridiculous fun, and renewed sisterhood…all played out to the tune of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

In order for you to understand the significance of this song, I’ll have to start from the beginning: May 20th, 2008 (otherwise known as my 22nd birthday). Some of my wonderful friends took me to my favorite Tulsa restaurant, Tucci’s, for dinner and then to the Full Moon Café to hear the Dualing Pianos… because nothing says Happy 22nd like a sweaty, overweight guy singing “Since You’ve Been Gone.” We started brainstorming songs to request…songs from high school or rap songs about women’s underpants (or lackthereof). This discussion led to what we affectionately call “frat party songs,” the kind that are always played at the end of the night with everyone singing along and simultaneously pumping their fist in the air.

Enter Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” The ultimate frat party song. Needless to say we requested, we sang, we fist-pumped. It was glorious.

What followed was a series of significant occasions where the aforementioned song made its way into our lives in a subtle, yet poignant way, reminding us in one way or another that Summer 2008 had potential for greatness. What started as a midnight train going anywhere, became a call to hope, a call to be the change we wanted to see in our summer. On that note, sit back and relax because the following list, well…its goes on and on and on and on…

• June 7, 2008 – John Robert and Stacey get married. Lauren and I drag Joshua into riding with us from the wedding to the reception while we strategize ways to request the song in order to ensure there will be fist-pumping. Something I’m sure Stacey appreciated since her reception was beautiful and classy. Twenty minutes into the reception…a familiar tune. I get up from my table in pursuit of my sister, who by this time has also become keenly aware of what is playing. The crowd parts and we see each other. What occurred next was some kind of high-pitched, annoying-girl embrace.
  It may have involved twirling. But nonetheless, at that moment we were of one heart, one mind.
• 1 Week Later – Wal-Mart is selling a Journey Greatest Hits Album and the geniuses at the Wal-Mart Marketing Department decide to promote the new album by playing the live version of “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
  ON EVERY FLAT SCREEN TV IN THE STORE. Lauren may or may not have left work to purchase said album.
• 2 Weeks Later – Somewhere in the middle of all the streetlights and people, I managed to convince Matt Burton (best man from aforementioned wedding) to accompany me to Mathis Brothers in pursuit of a coffee table for my future apartment. I had searched their website for the perfect coffee table and went into Mathis Brothers with every intention of bypassing all the salespeople. After all, I am an independent woman with enough money for a coffee table that is not even from the As-Is Room. Surely I can find one without being stalked by a salesperson motivated by the obviously HUGE commission he’s going to get from my $200 purchase. This is the content for an entirely different blog entry. The point is it played, quietly at first, but then just loud enough for me to hear it and immediately spot the light shining from heaven on my perfectly-proportioned black coffee table.
• Week 3 - What happened next is almost unbelievable. If I didn’t live it, I’d swear I was making this stuff up. I take Lindsay to Mathis Brothers to see the beloved coffee table because I want her to share in my coffee-table ownership bliss. We turn into the parking lot just off of 71st street and I see the photo my sister posted just below...seriously, scroll down and look at it!
  Lindsay nearly drove up the curb while I shrieked and pointed. Needless to say, we had to stop and take a picture with it. And with the photo came a series of events accentuated by not only my enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm of those that by association became part of the inner circle of “Don’t Stop Believin’” supporters:
• Event #1 – Lauren hears the techno remix version on Planet 106. Calls immediately to share.
• Event #2 – Lindsay and I hear it while apartment shopping in the Focus. Three things that have shaped my friendship with Lindsay…shopping, our apartment, her red Ford Focus (hood dent included).
• Event #3 – A friend from church gets married and our group of friends decides to hang out before some of us have to leave for med school, etc. We go to this place called Tiny Lounge, which is indeed tiny. There’s hardly anywhere to sit, the music is too loud to talk, and everyone is gearing up to leave when… JUST A SMALL TOWN GIRL…eyes meet…LIVIN’ IN A LONELY WORLD…to sing or not to sing…SHE TOOK THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN GOING ANYWHERE…a few brave souls chime in…JUST A CITY BOY…everyone at Tiny Lounge now in unison…BORN AND RAISED IN SOUTH DETROIT…
  Well, you know the rest.
• Event #4 – Lindsay spends the day getting things set up at our new apartment. I get home to cable and a new internet network entitled “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

There have been many other instances similar to the ones I’ve listed above. Consider these the highlights and I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. My hope is that you’ll give this song a chance to have significance in your life the way it has in mine. Let’s face it, everyone knows the song, everyone’s pumped their fist to it, but not everyone has really considered what Journey was trying to convey through vague lyrics, synthesized drums, and bad hair. It’s about not giving up. It’s about pressing on with the hope that good things come unexpectedly. Hold on to that feeling, my friends. Sure, you may get caught in traffic, forget your umbrella, get badgered by clients, or eat leftovers every day so you can afford to fill your car up with gas, but the point is you’ve always got “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
And no one can ever take that away from you.

It is and always will be the theme of Summer 2008.

Till next time,

EK