Success Circuit

Normal People, Living Their Dreams!

Archive: Jan 2010

  1. Interpreting Song Lyrics

    30 Comments

    It is obvious, isn’t it, that all songs are written with meanings… that they are symbolic? Some songs do not hide any of the meanings, some do. But no matter what the song, it MEANS SOMETHING!

    Meaning is very important to me, why? Because at its essence is always a purpose, understanding or even just a simple question. If you are a parent then you have probably said (I know my parents used to say it all the time!) “Stop asking Why!”, during the early years of life most of us ask questions which are vital to our development… these could include questions about why adults do something, why their friends do not get told off when they do or even purpose the of life (yes, I am talking about 3 year olds)!

    It does not stop there. Almost all of us, no matter our age or knowledge, we all want to understand more about how something works or why something happens. Art is the most popular (possibly even only?) way to express our questions or to reveal secrets without anybody understanding what we are saying. It helps.

    What do I include when I mention Art?

    • Visual – Paintings, Photography, Pictures, Digital Art, Make-Up
    • Audition – Lyrics, instrumental
    • Taste – Food, drinks
    • Smell – Food, perfumes

    Of course there are thousands of other aspects that are included in the word Art… let us all know if you can think of any!

    Now down to the point of the post, song lyrics. I am not going to interpret them myself, though I will probably do a follow up post in which I will. However, today I am going to a few verses of some songs I like (though of course you can do your own!) and I would appreciate it if you took the time to see what the songs are about. This skill is very useful in interpreting anything in life which in turn will allow you to be successful in what you are trying to achieve!

    So remember, look for hidden meanings… even if it looks obvious! Also, not only meanings, try interpreting the content and relating it to a different context.

    Circle of Life – featured in The Lion King
    Music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice

    From the day we arrive on the planet
    And blinking, step into the sun
    There’s more to see than can ever be seen
    More to do than can ever be done
    There’s far too much to take in here
    More to find than can ever be found
    But the sun rolling high
    Through the sapphire sky
    Keeps great and small on the endless round

    It’s the Circle of Life
    And it moves us all
    Through despair and hope
    Through faith and love
    Till we find our place
    On the path unwinding
    In the Circle
    The Circle of Life

    It’s the Circle of Life
    And it moves us all
    Through despair and hope
    Through faith and love
    Till we find our place
    On the path unwinding
    In the Circle
    The Circle of Life

    Country Roads
    John Denver
    Almost heaven, west virginia
    Blue ridge mountains, shenandoah river
    Life is old there, older than the trees
    Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze

    Country roads, take me home
    To the place, I be-long
    West virginia, mountain momma
    Take me home, country roads

    All my memories, gather around her
    Miner’s lady, stranger to blue water
    Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
    Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye

    Country roads, take me home
    To the place, I be-long
    West virginia, mountain momma
    Take me home, country roads

    I hear her voice, in the mornin’ hours she calls to me
    The radio reminds me of my home far a-way
    And drivin’ down the road I get a feeling
    That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

    Country roads, take me home
    To the place, I be-long
    West virginia, mountain momma
    Take me home, country roads

    So what can you interpret in songs, and how do they relate to your life?

  2. How to Write a Comment

    21 Comments

    I expect you comment on a lot of blogs, I know I do! But do you pay much attention to what you write? Quite often whilst approving comments on Success Circuit I notice that I get three types of comments: spam, common and constructive. Obviously I expect none of you to spam (or at least you better not!) but many of us (including myself quite often) do not put enough effort into each comment we write. So today I would like to take the time to have a look at how we can improve our comments.

    Why Should You Comment?

    Part of improving how we comment is by understanding why we comment. A blogger, or indeed infopreneur, writes posts for the readers to help them and to offer new information. The commenter/reader on the other hand gets the opportunity to further what the post speaks about, give their own opinion and to discuss the content of the post with both the author and other readers. What an amazing role to play, being able to give your own ideas et cetera without having to come up with the idea for the post like the author does.

    Another remarkable role of the commenter is that they are able to motivate. If you are a blogger yourself then you will know the feeling that we get every comment we approve. Knowing that people read and appreciate what you write… it is amazing!

    Great Post!

    This comes under my category of “common”, it is the type of comment that each one of us (usually) does the most of. You read a post and knowing that it motivates the author, you comment. But instead of writing something useful or that shows your opinion or furthers the discussion, you just say “Great post, keep them coming” or the like.

    Now, I am not saying do not ever post like that (though if you can do a more sophisticated comment with the time you have then I would insist you do) but I believe we should all be helping to improve the post and to help to provide maximum information and help as many people as possible. One of my goals for the upcoming year is not to comment more, as I comment often, but to write “better” comments.

    Constructive Comments

    Does that sound similar to constructive criticism? Well it should! Good comments are ones that look at the good and bad points of the post, tear it apart into little pieces and start a full blown riot debate. Why? Because that not only helps other people that read it (depending what the post is about) but it also motivates and helps the author. I once got an email (because they did not want to publically slaughter me hehe) that shred apart one of my posts (on an old blog of mine) and voiced his opinions very clearly. GREAT! That is what I want. Okay, I would have preferred it if he commented on the post as it would show everybody else his opinions and perhaps even start a very strong discussion.

    But comments do not have to just be about how the post is incorrect, for example if you had a blog about cooking then the comments should be about how a recipe could taste even more extravagant or be changed to a vegetarians option. It is all about taking a look at the content of the post and putting a spin on it. These not only voice your opinion but give ideas to other readers and may help them. If your commenting on a bloggers “10 top favourite WordPress plugins” then, obviously I should hope, you would write about your favourites… but stop… you could do more than that, couldn’t you? I would look at their list and if there was one there that I had used but had problems with then I would say so, if there was one I agreed with and use all the time then I would explain why it is so good.

    Get where I am coming from? Just because it is not your blog does not mean you cannot provide great content for it. I know people that instead of running their own blog, or even guest posting, they go to other blogs and basically write their own post in form of a comment about the content of the post they have read. Amazing! Also remember, a lot of bloggers will read your great comment and then have a look at your own blog or ask you if you would like to guest post. Commenting is a great way to get to know people.

    And before I leave you, remember this: Community does not exist if there is no interaction. So, as a commenter, ask questions! Get the author to interact with you and interact yourself with the other readers. If you manage to stir a discussion, the author will want to know more about you!

    So, discuss! Is there anything you agree or disagree on? Do you hate commenters that just say “great post”, if so why? Lets get some conversation going about the assets of a good comment. Also, a question to you, how often do you usually comment on blogs?

  3. You Just.. errr.. Do It

    1 Comment

    A lot of people ask me how to make a website. I tell them that they are asking a very broad question and I try to narrow down what they are trying to do. Eventually they ‘learn’ html and css, but rather than going and making that website they wanted to do in the first place. They say to me “Okay Shane, I know how to make a website… but I cannot make anything nice like you and everyone else can!” and I remember once saying “Well, errmm… you just like, Do it”. What an answer is that? Terrible I know. I never manage to actually help them much without just directing them to places like w3schools which is where I “learned” html and css.

    The problem with that though is that I am not actually being very helpful at all. I am not teaching them anything. So I sat down for a very long time the other night trying to figure out the reasons as to why I cannot teach it. I decided that (as with art, music, poetry et cetera), in my opinion, the ability to create good websites is not something that can be taught. The best, and possibly only, way to learn is by looking at other people’s websites, practising by using what you see there and editing it.

    So from that I can see that some things cannot be taught completely, people must just learn for themselves. But how can you tell somebody they just need to learn it for themselves? You can’t obviously. Now, I do not know if you have been in this situation or whether you are just a better teacher than me! However, unless that is the case then we need to find a way to help without actually teaching.

    An idea I have had is, put together a list of tutorials, inspiration and resources. From there they can learn and practise… then come back if they have any trouble. From there I, and you if you do this too, will be able to teach them how to fix their problem instead of doing all of their work for them.

    What do you do when you come to where you are about to say “Well, you just… do it.” or “I don’t know, it seems second nature.”?

  4. “Don’t Be Selfish Just Because That’s How I Wrote You!”

    2 Comments

    Update 13/01/10: I linked to Roland Millward’s post about Staying Positive in a Negative World.

    Whilst channel hopping just now, my sister decided to watch Inkheart (an incredible film based on the awe inspiring books by Cornelia Fluke) and the first line I heard was “Don’t be selfish just because that’s how I wrote you!” which is such an amazing quotation.

    If you have not read or watched Inkheart then you will wonder what it means, here is a quick background to the story. Basically, when a girl called Meggie was very young her father (Mo) was reading a book called Inkheart (yep, the book is based on a fictional book in the book… confusing right? Just wait, it gets worse!) when he accidently used his amazing, and somewhat magical, voice to read Meggie’s mother into the book! At the same time, he read many characters out of the book. One of these characters was Dustfinger, the person who author Fengolio was speaking to in the quotation.

    “Don’t be selfish just because that’s how I wrote you!”

    Author of the fictional Inkheart, Fengolio

    The reason I find this quotation so powerful is that, although it is spoken to a character made out of written ink, these wise words relate to everyday life and I expect every single one of us has some use for it!

    Think about the words. The first part is the problem, the second part is the excuse. “Don’t suck your thumb because Jimmy does it.”, “Don’t argue with your brother because your friends do.”, “Don’t become an alchoholic because your father was.” These are all valid points which come from that quotation.

    It is all about ATTITUDE. If you use excuses all the time then you need to change your attitude. It may help to think back upon this quotation whenever you are in need of an attitude check!

    As I am sure you all know about all of these, even those that do not pay attention probably know it, I am not going to talk any more about it. I would just like to say, if you have watched/read Inkheart then please share your opinions of it, also if you can recommend any other fiction (I love fantasty, and inspiring fiction is always a bonus!) then please do!

    Whilst writing this (the first time around, I accidently lost it so rewrote) I was speaking to my good friend and mentor, Roland Millward, and he mentioned that he is currently writing a post about ‘Staying Positive in a Negative World’ which sounds the perfect complement to this post as it is all about attitude and having a positive outlook! So as soon as he publishes it I shall link you all to that post.Roland has now published Staying Positive in a Negative World… read it!

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