Personal Revelation Paper

Personal revelation

A year ago if somebody asked me what it meant to have a ‘revelation’, I would have been able to give them an answer. I would have probably given a generic definition of the word – something along the lines of: “A realization that changes the way you think.” Or “The revealing of a new idea or truth.” And these answers would not have been incorrect. However, I have developed a different understanding of the significance of the word and its meanings. Most importantly, I am now better able to recognize revelation when I witness or experience it. I would like to discuss a small, but valuable revelation I experienced recently.
Anybody who knows me well enough to call me an acquaintance knows that I am a lover of music. I will often talk about varying aspects of music – artists, songs, concerts, theory, instruments and equipment, software, local musical groups or bands, etc. However, the thing that makes this deep interest so apparent is the fact that I listen to my music so very often. At home of course – but with the current existence of “Ipods” it becomes all too easy to listen at almost any time of the day. The little “Ipod Nano” which weighs barely anything and takes up hardly any space goes with me just about everywhere; school in particular, seeing as I spend a good portion of each weekday attending it. Until recently I have thought nothing more of this than being a way to escape the troubles and boredom of the day with familiar and comfortable sounds. An event that took place within a few seconds helped to change the way I think about how often my earphones are in.
A couple of months ago I was in search of some information of some kind and went to see Mr. Copeland with a question. So accustomed to the sound of music ticking away in the background of my life, I hadn’t even noticed that they were in my ears as I spoke to him; though, my usual method of speaking to someone while my music is playing is to remove just one ear piece. We spoke for a couple of minutes, and as I obtained the answers to my questions Andy Snyder approached from the door to the classroom behind me. Before I had noticed his presence in the room, I felt one of my earpieces being taken out and realized that it was Andy. He looked at me briefly and then proceeded to politely interrupt with something to say to Mr. Copeland. In that moment, as insignificant as the intended gesture may have been, I came away from it having had a revelation. Andy may have just found what I was doing to be rude, which it very well might have been, but for some reason I understood it differently. So often I have those headphones in, that I had to wonder if there are things in life that I miss out on. It is much more difficult to comprehend the world when you’ve got a constant distraction such as a stream of music. Oftentimes I’ll chose to listen to music instead of things like socializing, which is obviously sometimes alright, but this helped me to realize the gravity of doing that too often. It overall lessens certain somewhat necessary skills of getting along with people. I figure that my perception of the world and all of the things in it will be a better one, if I moderate my music listening. Music is one of my favorite things in the world, but everything must come in moderation – especially the favorites.