Electric Relaxation: Incubus "Warning"

This is a case where you love a song the minute you hear it and then discover years later that it speaks to you differently and more powerfully. "Warning" might be my favorite single off Morning View even more after this.

First time I heard this was on KROQ out here in LA in 2002. I was driving and my ears said "What is this??" "Was this some old Incubus song I never heard before?" I kept listening til the end and when the DJ said this was a brand new song off Morning View, I said "WHOA!" I think that was the thing that finally pushed me to buy the album.

There's a sound effect at the intro and in the breakdown that just sounded all kinds of epic. DJ Kilmore must've scratched it in and it sounds so cool yet fit the musical vibe. Throw in the fact that it was just a straight-forward rock song that just builds to an overwhelming sound at the end where Brandon sings "Don't ever let life you pass by" and the rhythm repeats even longer than it does on the radio.

The words seemed so cryptic to me back then. "I suggest we learn to love ourselves before it's made illegal"? "Floating in this cosmic jacuzzi, we are like frogs oblivious, to the water starting to boil"? It just seemed to add to this spacey vibe that reminded of me why I loved "Stellar" and "Pardon Me."

Flash forward to today. I'm at a personal crossroads wanting to fully take control of my life, which I shared on here. I want to take advantage of what I have in my mid-20's and not sit back and watch life pass me by. One night, this song came on and something told me to listen closer. The words suddenly made sense and spoke to me right now.

"Those left standing will make millions writing books on the way it should've been" - I mean that's just great writing. Too many people talk about how you should live life and they end up rich instead of gaining the value of tasting that life they sing about.

Now I got what the warning was about. "Dont ever let life pass you by." Yes! This was what I needed to hear. Don't be the lady in the song who wakes up old and realizes life's gone, only left to warn those not to follow her.

The intro is almost a challenge to do something you've never done or always wanted to do. The 2nd verse - suggesting for selflove - now means we gotta do it before we can't. Before we end up telling folks how to live because we failed. It's the flipside to Switchfoot's "Meant to Live", a song that challenged us to live for more than what we're seeing.

Floating in the jacuzzi means you're sitting there being comfortable, unaware that you're dying in your comfort and never moving on. Well-written with vivid imagery, this song now became my anthem of what not to become.

I wonder how they came up with this song. Sitting in Malibu off Pacific Coast Highway , watching one of the most beautiful beaches in the country. It's almost like they were relaxed, yet found a way to send out a message of urgency and living life to the max.

I was sleeping on this message for almost 8 years. Now as I'm waking up and rediscovering what I want, this song is another part of the fuel. Just one more reason why I love this album. Be encouraged from it.

25 Laps In A Stream of Consciousness

I’m sitting in my room listening to Incubus’ Morning View. I’m letting the sounds of one of my favorite albums surround me as I realize I’m finally here.

I’m finally turning 25 and it couldn’t come any sooner. In a year that was more up and down than any I expected being back home, it’s time to reach this silver number but all I could do was think about something I’ve thought for a few years.

I’ve reached the age that most of favorite rappers wrote some of their best work. Five years ago, I realized I was the same age Nas was when he wrote Illmatic, his masterpiece and when I listened to his verse on “Life’s a B---h”, it spoke to me as a young man waking up on his birthday making the most of his life and environment.

"I woke up early on my born day, I'm twenty years of blessing. The essence of adolescent leaves my body now I'm fresh in. My physical frame is celebrated cause I made it. One quarter through life some God-ly like thing created" - Irony cause i was born at 6.a.m.

Now I’m the same age as Tupac when he was murdered 13 years ago and just passed the age of Notorious B.I.G. before he died. Just thinking about what they accomplished in their short lives is impressive and although there was far more they could have done, they still made a great impact we feel today.

I’m looking at my life lately and I realize that I feel very blessed to have experienced what I have so far. It’s funny how mature I thought I was at 18 and thanks to my time with Saint Diego, I realized I had a lot to learn and lot of growing to do with different personalities.

I feel like I’ve come a long way and there’s still so far to go. There’s still more to accomplish and there’s still challenges that await me (none greater than finding my own place and perhaps explore other job options).

The plan is still the same. Make a difference in this life, never stop challenging myself and don’t settle for the bare minimum or anything less than my best. But I am so excited to see what happens in the next year, the next decade.

"I want to see miracles, see the world change. Wrestled the angel, for more than a name. For more than a feeling. For more than a cause. I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You. And You're raising the dead in me." - Switchfoot

"Life is not what I thought it was 24 hours ago....and I'm not who I thought I was 24 hours ago."

I didn’t understand why Switchfoot called that song “24” after lead singer Jon Foreman was about to turn 25. I heard it and felt like it spoke to me turning 24 last year. But now I hear it and it speaks loudly to me about wondering on my place in this world.

I want to keep finding my voice. I want to discover new things. I want to keep inspiring people. I want to keep searching…and I won’t stop believing until I find it.

25. Wow. I know that sounded really deep and you probably wanted some wit and funny stuff about what I remember. Maybe later…right now I want to reflect and give this moment it’s due. Are these tears coming down? Why? I wish I could honestly say.

In a perfect world, I wouldn’t be celebrating this in a hotel, going to the DMV tomorrow to renew my license and hoping that nothing bad happens at my job. But if anything is the story of my life, it’s been getting used to the unexpected and embracing it instead of running from it.

So here I come - get ready for another year of progress, change and personal development.