Don't Block Out Life

          I was sitting in my living room, next to the wood stove. I was looking at my dog, whose bed is against the wall. I looked up, and saw the TV, stereo, and CD collection in the wall. My mom was in one of the two chairs and I was sitting on the couch. To my right was one of the two lamps in my living room. To my left was the kitchen and dining room, which was open jointed to the living room. I got up and went upstairs to my room, picked up my headphones and carried them like fragile eggs. I came back downstairs, sat back down on the couch and looked out the window. I turned on my ipod nano and played Led Zeppelin. They screamed out the music My mom noticed what I'd done and told me to take them off.
          "Sean take off the headphones," my mom said.
          Not being able to hear her, because of the headphones, I noticed that she said something. So, I took one ear of my headphones off and said,"Whud you say?"
          "I said take the headphones off," she said obviously looking annoyed.
          Feeling good, I decided to fight it,"Why?!"
          "Because I said so," she replied quickly. 
          "But I like listening to my headphones," I said in a ceremonious tone.
          "Sean, if you keep this up, you will lose your headphones altogether," she said, trying to lay down the law.
          "MOOOMM!! There's no reason that I need to take them off," I said sharply, and perhaps too sharply.
          "Don't use that tone with me, I don't have to have a reason, I'm your mom!" she blared out.
          "So you don't have a reason!!" I said getting really aggravated.
          "No, I do. Do you want to know it?" she replied, putting me in a trap. Because, whether or not I said yes or no, she was going to tell me. Not just tell me, but force it into my brain and imprint it in my memory
          She opened her mouth, and I knew what was comming," The reason I want you to take off your headphone, is because you only live once," she said.
          I looked up, wondering if that was it. Then, I realalized that she was going to continue.
          "You only live once, and you'll never be able to hear it, or enjoy it, if you always have those damm headphones on. You only live once, so go out and enjoy it," she said.
          I felt like I had been shocked! Normaly, she would just rant on about how she's my mother and not to defy her, but this..... this was different. This really spoke to me.
          While taking off my headphones I slowly said,"I'm sorry."
          "Don't be sorry. It's your life, I'm just here to make sure you don't screw it up while I'm raising you," she said nicely, noticing how I reacted.
          "OK, I never thought about it like that," I said.
          "Well, now you do. Now, go and finish your homework and head to bed, it's getting late and you're swimming in the morning," she said.
          "Yep, I am," I added.
          "Good night," I said, while I walked upstairs.
          "Night," she said, as she turned on the news.
          What I learned from this conversation was that maybe music is a good way to block out the noise, but what's the point if you miss the things that are fun in life? Exploring the world, having fun with your friends, and being able to enjoy it, while you got it. After that, I didn't listen to my headphones as much, and I got out a lot more. I have never forgoten what my mom taught me that day.



I got this picture at: http://head-phones.findthebest.com/l/48/Skullcandy-G-I-Series