You are what you lean on

I love my iPod Shuffle. I wouldn't trade my old trusty shuffle for shiniest nano Apple ever made. For anyone who is indecisive, lusts after spontaneity and is still easy to please, the Shuffle is the gadget invented for you.

Its like listening to a radio station that doesn't play commercials but plays all and only your favorite songs. I don't need a library of 500 songs at any one time to achieve material happiness, 80 will do just fine.

If you are a runner, the Shuffle is your ideal companion- you don't have to worry about keeping up with it and you don't have to worry about holding "cardio-conversations" during your work out. Plus, it doesn't make you feel guilty if you decide to walk for a bit and you don't have to worry about pushing buttons or selecting songs. Just push play and run. A perfect listening experience is yours, all at the push of one thumb.

During my run today I was listening to Shine and I hear Trey Anastasio belt out the lyrics "You are what you lean on". The more I thought about these words, the less I knew how to interpret it. Two options:

1) The things you lean on become your crutches- they consume your identity because you begin to rely so heavily on these crutches to function. In other words, your weaknesses become an integral part of who you are.

2) The things you lean on are your strengths- they hold you up and give you the ability or the drive to be successul. So, you are the very things that prop you up and make you strong.

Yes the two interpretations are night and day and this makes the words so much more powerful. This reminds me that much of art is what the audience brings to it. Art is a medium that reflects our own selves. Our thoughts, opinions, feelings, personalities, and the state of our mentality are all reflected in different forms of art through our personal interpretations.

To provide more proof for that statement, consider these other fine lyrics from the Kings of Crunk, Lil' Jon and the Eastside Boyz:

"3,6,9 damn your fine
move it till you sock it to me one mo' time
Get low, Get low
To the window, to the wall,
Till the sweat drip down my balls, to all these bi***es crawl

Shortie crunk, so fresh so clean
can she f*** that question been harassing me
in the mind this bi*** is fine
I done came to the club about 50th 11 times now
can I play with yo pantyline?..."

trust me, it gets much better