John Lennon's Influence On My Life

When it comes to choosing an individual who has positively influenced my life, a handful of ideal names come to mind from all primary aspects of my experiences. People like Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, River Phoenix, James Dean, writer and renowned journalist Hunter S. Thompson, my brother Michael, and extraordinary musicians including Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, and my personal goddess, Stevie Nicks. While all these people have changed and inspired me in specific ways, there's one person that impacts my daily decisions, thoughts, and actions more prominently than anyone else could. Since the day I was born, I've had the advantage of being exposed to the music that has changed the world, making musicians and their creations the main source of

the love and passion that thrives from the core of my being. In relevance to this figure, I share that my earliest memory is jumping on my bed singing, "Love Me Do," by The Beatles, my first love was Ringo Starr, and my first heartbreak was the day George Harrison died. I was only four. By the time I was mature enough to comprehend the morals and ideals of John Lennon, I began to question what I was learning in school and was seeing the world differently. When his actions caused changes to come forth, I changed opinions about myself, challenged complications with this country's equality rights, and searched for an intricate sense of what I wish to achieve in my own life.
¶ "Did you guys know John Lennon's aunt told him he'd never start a living with his guitar?" I recall saying to my friends at our elementary school lunch table.

It was that time in my life that I realized not all children my age know who this man is. How could this be possible?! By the sixth grade, I strived to tell my friends about Lennon due to his importance, not only to me, but to millions of people since his eruption of fame beginning in 1964. One of the countless impacts John has made in my life is convincing me to believe in myself. This topic has been extremely personal and rarely shared since I was fourteen. Being raised in the worldwide culture of beauty and perfection was anything but simple. I've never been too similar to my peers, which is something I have grown accustom to now, but could not fathom in my early teenage years. I never gave a second thought to my appearance growing up until I realized it's all the general public cares about. I became the ultimate sheepish, awkward little girl. I developed severe self-image issues to tack onto other mental health problems, which still has a strong impact on my daily life and personality today. I never became that social butterfly with the beautiful face and outshining confidence similar to the others I knew. It was this perspective that weighed me down for years. When I realized the problem wasn't me, but the population's dispensable rat race, I dedicated my life to begin changing my outlook. Who is more suitable to help the process than John Lennon? That's not a conventional first thought, as it is now understood the partial meaning of being unlike my

peers.
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John explained in a press conference in 1969, as quoted in The Beatles: An Oral History by David Pritchard and Alan Lysaght.
Though it is difficult to brush past a presumption of this magnitude, Lennon has inspired me to push myself to reach towards a goal of establishing a healthier view of myself, and that is genuinely one of the greatest lessons I could learn from any individual, let alone my personal hero.
¶ Not only has John Lennon played a main role in evolving my idea of self-worth, his memory has encouraged me to care about important ideas. He gave me a path to follow by consistently and fearlessly speaking out when he did not believe in a certain business, function, process, or public event. He, along with his second wife, Yoko Ono, were expressive activists against the Vietnam War. The two worked together to implore all of society to stand for the values each person held. John and Yoko's "War Is Over! If You Want It," and "Bed-In For Peace," campaigns have outlasted the war by forty years, stimulating the fighter that I never knew existed inside me. I progressively began to engage myself towards the causes I truly believed in. I wanted to help create a change in the world. Two viewpoints that I have stood my grounds for have been LGBTQ rights and animal cruelty/rights. I attended annual Pride parades in my hometown of St. Louis, spread the word to those who did and did not care, I pushed myself to allow my local community hear that new fighting voice in my head. As of 2015, I stay proud and overjoyed to consider myself an active contributor in the equal marriage law passed in June. Additionally, in 2010, I educated myself further about the origin of the foods I was consuming. I discovered the truth about how cows, chickens, pigs and dozens of other animals are treated: being wedged into metal cages smaller than their bodies, sardineS in crates with other animals with the sole purpose of breeding, left only to have their feathers plucked, heads severed, later being mangled for the gormandizing pleasures of the human race. It kind of makes you sick to your stomach, doesn't it? I, with this affectionate personality, lover of all beating hearts, certainly did not deal with this material lightly. With the wise words from vegetarians such as Paul McCartney and River Phoenix, the activism of Lennon, and a spark of self-affirmation, I made the snap decision to quit eating meat. Since I have made this decision permanent, I often lend my participation to social media, sharing facts I have attained with assistance from organizations such as PETA and Meat Free Monday. John Lennon's advocacy of love over war inspired me to let myself out of my shell by contributing to a personal code of conduct.
¶ While Lennon never specifically spoke highly of being away from home, he is one of a few reasons I've established my affection for the state of New York. I learned plenty about life on the East Coast from his books and late-night talk show conversations. Furthermore, as excited as I would be to move to Manhattan, Greenwich Village, all the best historical spots of New York City, it will remain my goal to keep myself a far distance from his Dakota Apartment Building, as that is where his life ended due to a misdirected J.D. Salinger enthusiast in the middle of the night. I've been telling myself that it's not exactly a prime direction for me. The locality, idea, and stories of New York still enthrall me! At this point in my life, there's nothing I'd love to do apart from spending time away from Missouri and in the state of mind I feel I've always been in. With this revelation, John Lennon influenced me to apply to the college I've been perusing since my junior year, I feel I could thrive in, by keeping myself motivated with my potential new surroundings, people, lifestyles and even new weather. As I write this, I realize he's impacted larger decisions than I initially credited him for.
¶ I try to remember John as he was, rather than how the media has exploited him and how they have romanticized his young and untimely death. There's nothing beautiful to me about a man gaining fame from an unexpected time of death, especially when it's a person I look up to so intricately. Lennon once described his hatred for idolization of the dead in an interview with Playboy magazine in September 1980.
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In conclusion, I have come to recognize John Lennon's influences in today's society and in my own life by frequently calling back to the differences he's responsible for. In addition to how much he means to me, I also stay aware of how cliche and characterless it may seem to owe my life to perhaps the highest acclaimed musician in history, seeing (almost) the entire population loves John Lennon. When I view this in the standard light of, "Oh, of course she loves John Lennon," I remind myself of the nights I spent jumping around on my bed singing his songs. John Lennon is not a cliche to the girl at age three educating herself on how to spell "Jonathan," before she even knew her own name. It's a passion over an obsession.
Throughout the easiest, craziest, and complicated years of my life, John came to me bearing answers in my ceaseless vulnerable moments and my entirely impressionable years. He was consistently there during the times in my life that I desperately needed assurance that love is worth it; in the end it's all you need.