I Wanna Get Better
I’m OBSESSED with this song and this video. It makes me feel all the feels.
OBSESSED like whenever I hear it once, I have to hear it again at least five more times. (I will be listening to it the entire time I compose this blog post.)
I’m glad I watched the video the first time I heard the song. Like many people, I don’t always pay attention to the lyrics of a song. If I hadn’t seen the video first, I’m sure it wouldn’t have impacted me so deeply. There’s so much in this song to discuss!!
What I love about the video is the way it illustrates how therapists and clients are both human. The therapeutic relationship is not the place for the therapist to share their issues, but at the same time I personally hope my clients recognize I’m human and no where near perfect. We’re all searching for that sense of peace/happiness/contentment – just the same. As I remind my clients, it’s all a practice and some times we’re better than others.
I also dig the last chorus, where the therapist is the lead singer while his clients are the musicians and back up singers. I interpret this scene as a visual representation of how a) we’re all in this together and b) clients enhance the therapist’s life as well as vice versa. It’s really an honor to be able to support a person through trying times. It gives me a sense of purpose and accomplishment to know that I’ve been chosen as a trusted person in a client’s life. And more obviously, I literally couldn’t do what I do without clients. Just like a lead singer is nothing without her band.
I filed this song under the “anxiety disorders” category because I think it expresses the gap between where we are and where we want to be – thus producing this sense of things-are-not-ok-right-now, otherwise known as generalized anxiety. With the upbeat tempo and hurried lyrics, the song creates a sense of tension that feels a lot like anxiety to me. Musically, the Bleachers do a great job of creating that anxious feeling while simultaneously making you wanna dance in your car while onlookers wonder what the hell you’re doing. …or maybe that’s just me.
There’s also a longing for connection in the song that I hear over and over from clients. It’s amazing how isolated one can feel, even when so many others are feeling the same way. In The Daring WayTM Brené Brown talks about wishing she could connect people with like stories so they wouldn’t feel so isolated. That’s what I love about working in the addiction field – treatment groups are so intensively healing because of the common struggles group members have faced. EMPATHY!!
And finally, the overall message of the song – I wanna get better – hits me right in the heart. In my personal and professional experiences, I’ve gotten to feel THAT moment so many times. That instant where the head and the heart come together and decide that it’s time to make a change is so incredibly powerful. We can be so impatient when we’re feeling uncomfortable. Humans will do anything to avoid pain. But it’s that discomfort that pushes us to do something different! The next time you feel emotionally uncomfortable, pause for a second and ask yourself what’s going on. Emotions are just information – take a moment to listen and hear what they’re trying to tell you. Maybe they’re telling you you wanna get better too?