I Wanna See You Be Brave

Dear Reader,


Sarah Bareilles wrote a song about saying what needs to be said. The song says we should say what we want to say and not be afraid to do so. The song is really a challenge to the listener. I think it is a challenge to those who have a hard time deciphering the difference between staying silent to avoid contention and staying silent to avoid contention. Does that make sense? It probably doesn't. I'll explain. Here are the lyrics to Sarah Bareilles' song to give a little more background (Without the repeated chorus lines):

 You can be amazing

You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug

You can be the outcast

Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love

Or you can start speaking up

Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do

When they settle ‘neath your skin

Kept on the inside and no sunlight

Sometimes a shadow wins

But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

Everybody’s been there,

Everybody’s been stared down by the enemy

Fallen for the fear

And done some disappearing,

Bow down to the mighty

Don’t run, just stop holding your tongue

Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live

Maybe one of these days you can let the light in

Show me how big your brave is

Say what you wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

And since your history of silence

Won’t do you any good,

Did you think it would?

Let your words be anything but empty

Why don’t you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

(Lyrics found on www.azlyrics.com)

Sometimes while chatting with people, we tend to remain silent on certain topics because it is not worth it to open up a can of worms. Take music as an example. If someone doesn't like a song that you happen to love, you might not say anything about it so as to avoid having a pointless argument. We literally remain silent to avoid confrontation. 

During some other conversations, a person can become uncomfortable or unsure about how they should respond. If conversations like this become tense, sometimes we will say something that is not necessarily accurate in order to diffuse the situation. I'll admit I have been guilty of this tactic. Sometimes we do this because we are scared of what might happen if we say what we really think. It is certainly a good thing to consider whether something needs to be said or not. That is one way we "remain silent" in order to avoid confrontation. 

Here we arrive at the question. When should we be brave and say what we really think? This has been something on my mind a lot lately with a couple of different political, religious, and social topics. It is important to ask, because as the song states, "Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do when the settle 'neath your skin." I interpret that to mean that sometimes not stating your opinion will be more harmful than not doing so. It is hard to tell when staying silent will be more dangerous than saying something. 

I think you should always tell what is on your mind if it is bugging you. Now, that is coming from Dale, a guy who is not irked by a lot of things. There are very few things I purposely stay silent on, mostly because I think saying something will not change anything. Based on that statement, you may think this entire post is hypocritical, but I never claimed to be perfect. 

Say what you want to say. I want to see you be brave.