10.30.2010

Mother Earth


Mother Earth

I was walking along the beach one winter day. Looking down, I saw a wave push a feather up on the sand. It was a sea gull feather stained with oil. I picked it up and felt the dark slick film on my fingers. I couldn't help wondering if the bird had survived. Was it all right out there? I knew it wasn't.

I felt sad to think how carelessly we treat our home. The earth we all share is not just a rock tossed through space but a living, nurturing being. She cares for us; she deserves our care in return. We've been treating Mother Earth the way some people treat a rental apartment. Just trash it and move on.

But there's no place to move on to now. We have brought our garbage and our wars and our racism to every part of the world. We must begin to clean her up, and that means cleaning up our own hearts and minds first, because they led us to poison our dear planet. The sooner we change, the easier it will be to feel our love for Mother Earth and the love she so freely gives back to us.

[Michael Jackson, Dancing the Dream p.96]



Thank you, Anne-Sophie for sharing this video

Do We Give a Damn?


"I’m very concerned about the plight of the international global warming phenomenon.
I knew it was coming, but I wish they would have gotten people’s interest sooner.
But it’s never too late. It’s been described as a runaway train;
if we don’t stop it, we’ll never get it back. So we have to fix it, now.
That’s what I was trying to do with “Earth Song,” “Heal the World,” “We Are the World,” writing those songs to open up people’s consciousness.
I wish people would listen to every word."
~ Michael Jackson ~

Recently, there are several natural disasters happened in my country, Indonesia.
On October 25th, 2010, earthquakes followed by tsunami hits Mentawai Island, Sumatra (Indonesia). And 2 days later, a volcano erupted from Merapi Mountain, Central Java province (Indonesia). Thus Merapi itself means "Mountain of Fire", but that doesn't mean that we all had prepared for this disaster....
Maybe we all wonder, "why Indonesia?" Please learn here, "Pacific Ring of Fire", as it is noted that the volcanoes in Indonesia are among the most active of the Pacific Ring of Fire, others than in Chile, United States, and other countries the in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

The Earth is Mad
Many earthquakes had happened, but most of us don't know the exact number. I calculate the total of the last 4 years earthquakes from wikipedia list, and found:
On 2007, there are 25 earthquakes with min. magnitude of 6.1 SR and the maximum: 8.5 SR which happened in Sumatra Island, Indonesia.
on 2008, in total 24 earthquakes with min. magnitude of 5.8 SR and the maximum: 7.9 SR, was in Sichuan Province, China
on 2009, decreased into 20 earthquakes with min. magnitude of 5.4 SR and the maximum: 8.1 SR, happened in Samoa Island, followed by the tsunami
And, 2010, up to October, we already had 24 earthquakes with min. 5.6 SR and maximum 8.8 SR that was happened lately in Mentawai Island, Sumatra (Indonesia), also followed by tsunami.

In average of 20 earthquakes every year, but then look at this table below
(click to enlarge) source

2 of the ten deadliest natural disasters, had happened in recent years: 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and 2010 Haiti Earthquake.......
And, not also mentioned about the global warming phenomenon...

Do we give a damn?

"We don’t look to man to fix the problems of the world, we don’t. They can’t do it.
That’s how I see it. It’s beyond us.
Look, we don’t have control over the grounds, they can shake.
We don’t have control over the seas, they can have tsunamis.
We don’t have control over the skies, there are storms.
We’re all in God’s hands.
I think that man has to take that into consideration."
~ Michael Jackson ~


"I respect the secrets and magic of nature.
That's what makes me so angry when I see these things that are happening in our world.
That every second I hear the size of a football field is torn down in the Amazon.
I mean, that kind of stuff really bothers me.
That's why I write these kinds of songs. You know, to give some sense of awareness and awakening and hope to people.

I love...I love the planet. I love trees. I have this thing for trees. And the colours and the changing of leaves. I loove it! And I respect those kinds of things.

I really feel that nature is trying so hard to compensate for man's mismanagement of the planet. Cause the planet is sick. Like a fever.
If we don't fix is now, it is at the point of no return.
This is our last chance to fix this problem that we have.
It is like a runaway train. When the time is come, this is it.

People are always saying,
"Oh," they think, "They'll take care of it."
"The Government'll do..." "Done with that..." "They'll..."
They who?? It starts with us. It's US! Or else it'll never be done.
We have four years to get it right. After that it would be irreversible.
Let's take care of the planet!
~ Michael Jackson, This Is It, 2009 ~

10.29.2010

"Man in the Mirror" as music therapy



Probably you have read Seven's article "Michael Jackson: King of Academic Literature and Scholarly Study" and to add his legacy on this, I found several article and journals-related... Yes, Michael's song entering the mental health education :)

As we, MJFam, listen to his songs are likely as self-healing process for us. Did you know that his songs are also used for music therapy in several researches, and... as a reference for a music therapy book? From what I read, I learnt that the one that are used more often is "Man in the Mirror" song....

What is Music Therapy?
Music therapy is the use of music and/or musical elements (sound, rhythm, melody and harmony) by a qualified music therapist, with a client or group, in a process designed to facilitate and promote communication, relationships, learning, mobilization, expression, organization, and other relevant therapeutic objectives, in order to meet physical, emotional, mental, social and cognitive needs. Music therapy aims to develop potentials and/or restore functions of the individual so that he or she can achieve better intra- and interpersonal integration and consequently a better quality of life through prevention, rehabilitation or treatment. (World Federation of Music Therapy, 1997)


And here are articles and journals that used Michael's song for their reference as music therapy:

Along with the chemotherapy and radiation came Paige Robbins — strumming her guitar and singing “I’ll Fly Away,” “Sound of Silence” or "Man in the Mirror"
The idea was to use music to brighten the lives of women undergoing breast cancer treatment.
And for many patients, it worked.

He used the song "Man in the Mirror" as one of his list as a treatment to see the effect of using music for individuals who deal with issues involving mental health and substance dependency in music therapy techniques with the result:
"When comparing the use of music therapy techniques of song selection and lyric
analysis to a more traditional, non-music approach, in a coping skills grolving mental health and substance dependency, participant attendance was shown to be considerably higher during the music condition compared to non-music. Survey results also corroborated the findings that participants felt the issues surrounding chemical dependence were dealt with more effectively during music-condition sessions than during the non-music sessions."
"An especially interesting point to consider is the fact that the participants found using the song selection technique to be more effective when dealing with issues of chemical dependence than the passage selection, which is geared specifically towards those issues. Most of the song choices available did not refer specifically to drugs or alcohol, but rather to larger themes such as hope, acceptance, change, and struggles. The participants were very proficient at interpreting a song’s lyrics and applying it to their own life, making it personal to their own difficulties with addiction and dependence."


The following songs were attached to the themes that emerged from the written testimonials of the participants and were identified as similar experiences that the participants shared on their journey to and through divorce: ‘And then I kissed her...’, ‘From this moment, live has begun...’ , ‘O-bla-di-o-bla-da, live goes one...’, ‘I’ll be watching you’ ‘Thunder Struck!!!’, ‘Goodbye My lover, Goodbye my friend... ‘, ‘Since You’ve Been Gone...’, ‘...and it’s Hope that makes you carry on...’, ‘The "Man in the Mirror", 'Don’t Worry Be happy Now...’

Michael Jackson’s song "Man in the Mirror"carries a message that all your experiences and journeys in life will be reflected in yourself, and if you are unhappy with anything in your life you need to start by changing within yourself. I also asked the participants how they felt while writing their stories. Of great interest to the researcher was the fact that two of the participants spontaneously included in their stories these feelings while writing their narratives, which indicated that while they were writing, they were consciously thinking about the events and what they viewed as important and significant to them.


He compared the experimental group and control group, where the experimental group received psychoeducation with music therapy and the control group received psychoeducation only. The music he used is the song and lyrics of "Man in the Mirror".
The design of this study was experimental and control groups with pre/posttest. And, as the result, the subjects in the experimental group rated their sessions much higher than did the control group as a direct result of the music because the material between all sessions was identical. The effect of subjects' higher ranking of music therapy sessions could be attributed to the diverse use and effectiveness of music therapy techniques at achieving common rehabilitative goals.

- Music therapy methods in neurorehabilitation: a clinician's manual (2006, by Felicity Baker, Jeanette Tamplin, Jeanette Kennelly. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.)
In this book, "Man in the Mirror" is categorized as "Active Change" on the list of songs that they found useful to simulate self-reflection and self-exploration in patients.

"'Man in the Mirror' is a great message. I love that song.
If John Lennon was alive, he could really relate to that song because it says that if you want to make the world a better place, you have to work on yourself and change first.
It's the same thing Kennedy was talking about when he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change.
Start with the man in the mirror. Start with yourself.
Don't be looking at all the other things. Start with YOU."
~ Michael Jackson ~


Let's interpret the meanings of "Man in the Mirror" song itself...
A paper, published on 2008 by Dutch researchers in The Journal for Experimental Social Psychology. The authors attempted to investigate how looking into a mirror (and thus increasing self-awareness) would effect our tendency to stereotype others.

The results showed that the mirror made a big difference for those people who already measured high in prejudice. Participants who made judgments without a mirror were significantly more likely to label as “irresponsible.” Those who completed the study while occasionally seeing their own reflection were more likely to perceive as “easygoing.” In essence, seeing themselves in a mirror made people high in prejudice behave in the same manner as participants who showed low levels of prejudice.

The authors go on to speculate that looking at oneself in a mirror forces us to consider how we are viewed by others. As a result, seeing our reflection makes us more likely to conform to social norms (you know, like not being racist). Michael came face to face with the man in the mirror and realized he needed to “make a change,” to become a more concerned and compassionate person. Here at least, everyday people seem to be no different than the King of Pop. source

----

"Few people remember that he was Dr. Jackson, having received this Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Fisk University." source


Anyway,
And from that article, researches and book, I'm sure Michael would be happy to know how he has contributed to the world through education area.. :)


"An education opens a person's mind to the entire world, and there is nothing more important than to make sure everyone has the opportunity for an education."
~ Michael Jackson ~


Updated:
“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’:
MJ in the Scholarly Literature: A Selected Bibliographic Guide”

10.17.2010

PRAY



I went to church today, and the pastor preached about PRAY, a very simple preach but it has deep meanings...
He said, when we pray, we're talking to God, and there are 2 essential points that we acknowledge when we're praying...
First, who is taking the prayer.. that is: me (us)
Second, to whom are we praying... of course, God

So, yes, praying is like having dialogue with God,
even when we started our prayer with, "God, I don't know how to pray", at that moment we already pray...

Pray,
don't have to be at some sacred place, it could be anywhere..
and it doesn't have to be on special moment, it could at anytime..

Thus, the most important thing that we used to forget on praying is.. Be THANKFUL for His blessings..

When we are at the top of the world, when we had succeed in achieving our goals, We -human kind- arrogantly see those things as our own achievements, yet forgot God's involvement in it..


"I gain strength from God." ~ Michael Jackson ~

#MJFam, thanks to the team of Uncover Michael Jackson's name, had succeed to reach the goal and made his name officially UNcover..

And have we pray and say thank you to Him?


"I pray every night. I don’t just pray at night. I pray at different times during the day." ~ Michael Jackson ~

"And I pray a lot and that’s how I deal with it and I’m a strong person, I’m a warrior"
~ Michael Jackson ~

10.03.2010

Stop the War


"I have been an ambassador of goodwill all over the world spreading this message."
~ Michael Jackson ~
The image is from Michael's 7th grade yearbook, when he was approximately 13 years old, from the Walton School in Van Nuys CA (1971). Drawn in protest at the Vietnam War, it shows a figure with arms outstretched in front of a battle scene complete with bombers, machine-gun posts and a helicopter under the slogan "stop the war". source

Michael drew this for his protest against the Vietnam War, it was a big war, cost lots of people died, injured, children lost their parents, and parents lost their children..
But tell me, does war exist right now, in our everyday world? in our small world?
The word of "war" also means attacking, insulting, backstabbing, cursing, barking against each other... that's my opinion tho..

Remember his message: "Follow the Golden Rule. Be kind to your neighbors, love them as much as you would love yourself, do unto others...." ~ Michael Jackson ~

And he added: "I get angry, yeah. But I know that is the way of the world. That's the theme of my world show: Be kind, heal the world. Let's walk out of here a different human being.." ~ Michael Jackson ~


Michael, in his own words...
"I don't like war. I like peace. I'm a peaceful person." ~ Michael Jackson ~

"I hope that our next generation will get to see a peaceful world, not the way things are going now." ~ Michael Jackson ~

"I pray for peace all the time." ~ Michael Jackson ~



Man of war...
Don't go to war no more
Why don't you...
Why don't you study peace
Man of war...
Don't go to war no more
Study peace...
Cause peace is what we need


~ I am here, because I love Michael ~ ♥