Les Misérables

Today I accomplished a goal that I've been working on for quite some time.  I finished reading the unabridged version of Les Miséables by Victor Hugo.

I have had an interesting journey with this tale.  I first purchased my copy at a Barnes & Noble in Orem, Utah while I was a freshman at BYU.  It was winter of the 08-09 school year.  My older brother and I laughed that day--after having lunch together we went to the bookstore, where he bought the abridged version of Les Mis while I purchased the unabridged.  And now, almost 8 years later, I finally finished the book.

I hadn't started reading it immediately.... I think it took me a year or so to first pick it up to actually read.  I read Part One: Fantine and then became distracted with life and stopped.

And then in 2012, I had the chance to see Les Misérables performed at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco.  I loved it.  As often is the case with musicals, I am familiar with the music before I ever see the performance.  This was the case here.

Several songs have always stood out to me: I Dreamed a Dream, On My Own, Bring Him Home, and The Epilogue among others.

I read most of Part Two: Cosette then, but I had to leave for Sweden before I could finish.

I watched the movie in Paris, France with my family, right after they picked me up from Sweden.  This ended up being one of first normal movies I had in about a year and a half.  The message struck me just as much then as it did in San Francisco - particularly that of forgiveness.

Come December 2015, I knew it was my goal to finish the book in 2016, so I began reading, once again.

I finally finished today.

This book has so many lessons.  I am so glad that I took the time to finish it.  A story of love, lost, forgiveness, despair, hope, tragedy, history, war, conflict, and salvation.  It shows the depravity of mankind as well as the innate goodness that exists in others.  It counteracts between the two, showing that you do not need to be defined by preconceived notions.  Despite everything that has been thrown at us, there is always a choice in how we react and how we continue to live each day.

This story is more than the life of Jean Valjean.  The heart of those words lift beyond the pages, permeating to the soul.

For me, one of the strongest messages is that of forgiveness, particularly that of forgiving oneself. Jean Valjean's strongest critic and judge in the end invariably was himself.  He was finally able to let go and find peace.  He was a such a good man, forever trying to atone for the mistake of stealing bread and his later escape.  He helped so many and left an impression on many lives, both in fiction and reality.

He sleeps.  Although so much he was denied,
He lived; and when his dear love left him, died.
It happened of itself, in the calm way
That in the evening night-time follows day.
~Victor Hugo, Les Misérables, p 1201

And remember the truth that once was spoken
To love another person is to see the face of God!
~Epilogue, Les Misérables Musical

The Power of Music!

I love music!  I think pretty much everyone knows this (or at least knows that I play the piano) but music plays a big role in my life.

In the past couple of weeks I have been thinking about the different songs that have held some sort of significant hold for me since I've been back from my mission.  I often will have a song that is like my theme song for several weeks (meaning that I get obsessive and pretty much listen to it on repeat), but each one plays a role for a reason.  This will give a sampling of the music that I listen to (I do listen to a wide variety and this doesn't even really go into all of that--I realize that I've been in more of a pop kick lately haha)

The first three all have direct ties to Sweden... surprise!

Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest) by Kari Jobe - this was introduced to me by Thomas Morley while I was in Kungbacka and it was the theme song of the end of my mission.  I ended up performing it as a musical number with one of my companions (she sang while I played piano) during our last week in the area and just before I moved to my final area of my mission.

Happy - Pharrell Williams - definitely described my mood during pretty much all of August.  Getting into a relationship and having fun with everything... I was just exuberantly happy with everything (even being exhausted with starting law school immediately with ongoing jet lag).  This song played a role in several of my last few zone conferences (Sister Newell's videos were the best) and it will always remind me of my time as a missionary because of it.

Hey Brother - Avicii (Sorry Rikki - Ik!) Another song I heard a ton in Sweden~ and I mean everywhere, on the train, on the bus, anywhere that played music in public.  It just connects to Sweden with me and I thought it was somewhat catchy.  Perhaps it just reminded me of my Cascada days?? Who knows.

Gone, Gone, Gone - Phillip Phillips.  I have always loved this song and it's my favorite (so far) by Phillip Phillips.

Cups (When I'm Gone) - Anna Kendrick - I liked this song long before I ever saw the movie Pitch Perfect (which I have seen now... just saying).

Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran - the timing of this was just good... I became aware of it when I was in a relationship that started when I was 23... and it kind of just went from there.

Brave - Sara Bareilles - I have two versions of this song, the original, and an a cappella version by BYU's Vocal Point.  Being brave enough to say those things you want to say (the important things especially) was something that I took to heart.

Human - Christina Perri

Say Something - A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera

Keep On - Junior Doctor - this is probably the least known song on this list but it was definitely fitting!  (I also like Uh-Oh - which is the song that you're probably most familiar with)

Here I am Alive - Yellowcard.  I've been a fan of Yellowcard for ages...and I still need to get the most recent release, but this song... I guess the line that stands out the most "I made mistake, I know, I know, but here I am alive"

On Top of the World - Imagine Dragons.  This song describes overall how my life has been since I've been home.  I've had some deep lows, for sure, but I've also been incredibly happy.  This song took over as my ring tone even... and I had Spinning by Jack's Mannequin as my ring tone for about 3 years, so that's saying something.  Plus the music video is cool just because I know so many people in it!

I realize that the songs I like to listen to are directly correlated to what's going on in my life at the moment.  Always makes me wonder what would be included in the soundtrack of my life and whether any of these songs would make the final cut for the movie.