The Heart Wants What it Wants

Young Selena Gomez relates the ache of having a heart that launches itself painfully toward a dead end love.  Disdainful critics cast aside the importance of these pop culture icons yet the masses are moved by their messages.

Modern Fairy Tale  Listen to her brief monologue before the song.

Mothering teenagers took me back to the days of my angst filled youth...days that seemed interminably long when my heart was broken...days that passed in a blur when I was ecstatic.  What a surprise to find out that it remains the same in midlife regardless of my so called maturity!  The books and articles that we read and write may reflect adult lessons but observing the pop culture of youth shows we don't truly change our approach too much.

Music is our solace, flipping from fad to fad is our habit, and speaking out loudly against society's expectations is part of our psyche.  I often tell my children that we seem to be in the same stage of life, on the cusp of a great adventure that we can't predict but are excited to undertake.  The gift and curse of our modern age is that the internet has allowed immediate interaction with our present and our past.  Because of its immediacy, we no longer have the luxury of reflection.  The lure of instantaneous fulfillment bypasses a much needed rest stop on life's path.

And yet, the outcrop of art coming from our youth shows they are reflecting...they are absorbing...they are evolving.  I don't believe that today's generation is LESS than previous great generations.  We've given them the tools to become civilization's best example of what humanity can become.  Naysayers will come back with ruminations of our crumbling social fabric.  Instead, our youth may be the first wave of weavers who are forming a new and better social fabric.

Let me end with a throwback response to Selena from a past pop icon.

Ronstadt's Lesson

Don't feel alone, Selena because you too will learn the lesson and meet better men.  And one day, maybe you will be considered a national treasure just like my era's Linda Ronstadt.