I hit the office this morning and picked up the new Kid Cudi Album on iTunes.  I’ve been excited about this release for a while, as I look at Cudi as bringing something new to Hip Hop. As I hit play on the first track, it ended with a soliloquy known as the Cudi Anthem.  I listened to the last sixty seconds of that song at least ten times. It actually transported me back to when I was in college and I thought about some of the decisions I made back then, and those that I still make today.  Rather than making you read my interpretation, I’ll let you read on and make your own.

Long before we know ourselves,
Our paths are already set in stone.
Some may never figure out their purpose in life,
And some will.
There are a lot of us who are caught up in a hell we all live in,
Content with being blinded by rules and judgment.
We live in a world where it’s more okay to follow than to lead.
In this world being a leader is trouble for the system we’re all accustomed to.
Being a leader in this day and age is being a threat.
Not many people stood up against the system we all call life,
But toward the end of our first ten years into the millennium we heard a voice.
A voice who was speaking to us from the underground for some time.
A voice who spoke of vulnerabilities and other human emotions and issues never before  heard so vividly and honest.
This is the story of a young man who not only believed in himself,
But his dreams too.
This is the story of The Man On The Moon.

College is a time where it seems much easier to be just another follower than to blaze your own path.  It’s so much more convenient to let others think for you than to decide what’s best all by yourself.  Why are we so determined to ignore the voice inside, begging us to go the other way?  We all have it.  I’m not sure if the voice is louder in some of us, making it impossible to ignore, or if it’s a stronger determination to pay attention to the internal whispers that can be heard through the thunderous roar of a crowd full of followers.  Either way, those that do choose to ignore the crowd and become a leader in their own lives are better off for it.  So what about you? Are you on your way to becoming just another face in the crowd or are you working on your own Man in the Moon story?