Johnathan Flaum's article, located here: http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/51.01.YourHowl speaks of an experience he had in the fifth grade. He talked about his experience when a fellow classmate had found a sort of "loophole in the system." The classmate had found a way to exceed the teacher's expectation, which nobody else in the class had even managed to come close to, while concurrently writing such an in-depth story that relates so closely to every person's situation. That particular point is this: One can run in circles for eternity trying to escape when there is no where to run to. Or, one can learn to admire where they are, in turn opening up a new world of possibilities.


A song that I love and that speaks to me creatively is "I Must Belong Somewhere" by Bright Eyes. This is a copy of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B-mBqG1HCA

And these are the lyrics:
Leave the bright blue door on the whitewash wall
Leave the death ledger under city hall
Leave the joyful air in that rubber ball today

Leave the lilac print on the linen sheet
Leave the birds you killed at your father's feet
Let the sideways rain in the crooked street remain

Leave the wimpering dog in his cold kennel
Leave the dead starlet on her pedestal
Leave the acid kids in their green fishbowls today

Leave the sad guitar in its hardshell case
Leave the worried look on your lover's face
Let the orange embers in the fireplace remain

Because everything, it must belong somewhere
A train off in the distance, bicycle chained to the stairs
Everything must belong somewhere
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here

Leave the ocean's roar in the turquoise shell
Leave the widower in his private hell
Leave the liberty in that broken bell today

Leave the epic poem on its yellowed page
Leave the gray macaw in his covered cage
Let the traveling band on the interstate remain

Because everything, it must belong somewhere
Soundstage in California, televisions in Time Square
Everything must belong somewhere
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here

Leave the secret talks on the trundle bed
Leave the garden tools in the rusted shed
Leave those bad ideas in your troubled head today

Leave the restless ghost in his old hotel
Leave the homeless man in his cardboard cell
Let the painted horse on the carousel remain

Because everything, it must belong somewhere
Just like the gold around her finger or the silver in his hair
Everything must belong somewhere
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here

In truth, the forest hears each sound
Each blade of grass as it lies down
The world requires no audience
No witnesses, no witnesses

Leave the old town drunk on his wooden stool
Leave the autumn leaves in the swimming pool
Leave the poor black child in his crumbling school today

Leave the novelist in his daydream tomb
Leave the scientist in his Rubik's Cube
Let the true genius in the padded room remain

Leave the horse's hair on the slanted bow
Leave the slot machines on the river boat
Leave the cauliflower in the casserole today

Leave the hot, bright trash in the shopping malls
Leave the hawks of war in their capitals
Let the organ's moan in the cathedral remain

Because everything, it must belong somewhere
They locked the devil in the basement, threw God up into the air
Everything must belong somewhere
You know it's true, I wish you'd leave me here
You know it's true, why don't you leave me here


This song speaks to me creatively for many reasons. The first reason, and the most straightforward reason is that it took me a long time to find what I wanted to do, career-wise. I have bounced around from fashion design to sculpture to fibers to music to video production. I have literally thought sometimes that "I must belong somewhere" and have wondered around trying to find exactly where. I am both relieved and excited to know that I have found that place now, whereas in the song, he sings "I know that now that's why I'm staying here." I have found my howl in the arts the hard way- by literally pushing through everything I jumped at before and eventually finding what jumped at me. Flaum explained that one cannot know their true path without knowing from where they came. You must learn the ins and outs of everything along the way and find your own meaning to it, and that is what makes you truly insightful. He also explains that happiness will never come from bouncing around, and the smartest thing one can do is to become content, and even happy, with where they are. I am finally happy now, and I can truly understand what this song is speaking about, because I have experienced it myself.
This song has a second meaning to it which I found to be important, and that is a sort of commentary on the way the world tends to look at people who are different. He says to leave everything where it should be, some literal and some sarcastic. For example, "leave the true genius in the padded room..." explains that people are often afraid to look at things differently and therefore condemn anyone who dares to do just that. This is relevant to us creative folk because we tend to look at things differently every day. We have found our howl in the workings of society by simply choosing to look at things in a different light, and that, I believe, will make a larger howl than anything I could imagine.