If you’ve turned on any pop radio station lately, you might have heard Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s new song that was released called “Growing Up.” Not only was it created by two extremely talented artists, but it also features Ed Sheeran in the chorus. If you have not heard this song yet, I highly recommend that you look it up on YouTube and play it on repeat (seriously).
Macklemore recently became a father and wrote this song about his son and everything he hopes to share with him about growing up (hence the song title). The reason I am bringing this song to your attention is because of the meaning behind Macklemore’s lyrics. I only heard this song for this the first time while driving last week, and when taking in the lyrics for the first time there was one line that completely caught my attention.
“Don’t try to change the world,
Find something that you love
And do it every day
Do that for the rest of your life
And eventually, the world will change”
When I first heard this, I was caught off guard when he said, “Don’t try to change the world.” I thought to myself, why would he tell anyone to not try and change the world? But when he continued with the lyrics it completely made sense. I felt it was a lesson that was so important for him to share with the world, and it resonated with me enough that I felt compelled enough to write an article about it.
I feel that in today’s world, I have witnessed so many people have a passion they want to pursue, struggle with finding a way to pursue it, and ultimately reside in something that they don’t love. I’m thinking about this in terms of peoples’ career paths. Too many individuals have a dream of what they want to be when they grow up, and because they have a hard time pursuing that vision, they end up having a job that they don’t love at all; and that should not be the case. I know it is difficult because finding a way to pursue your dreams in the world isn’t always as easy as it seems. But I believe that everyone should do something that they love.
Listen, I am not saying that it will always work out. If your dream is to be a famous singer, that is amazing, and I say try to pursue it. But if you know that isn’t realistically going to work for you then pursue something in the music scene that is more realistic but also something you feel passionate about.
Passion is the key to all of this. When you are passionate, you feel motivated and inspired. And what Macklemore is trying to say here is that this passion, this love, this dedication and this drive, will cause you to change the world without even trying. I think too many people forget to pursue what they love, and end up taking on a job that does not make them happy. Find what you love doing and pursue that. Don’t feel pressured to be someone you aren't. You don’t want to spend the rest of your life caught up with something you dread.
There isn’t a set path because you pave your own individualized road. I know that it may seem unrealistic when writing about a topic such as this but, to me, finding happiness and doing what you love is important. And Macklemore and I can promise you that if you continue to do what you love in life, then you can and will change the world.
