HIVE OPEN MIC Week 126 (Theme - Trusting in the Process): Cover Song "It's Okay not to be Okay"

Hello everybody on Hive and especially the Hive Open Mic Community! My name is Jasper and I'm writing (and singing) to you from Cape Town South Africa!

This is Week 126 of the Hive Open Mic Challenge, and the theme for the week is "Trusting in the Process"!

This was a tricky topic, but eventually I figured I would talk and sing about trusting in the process of working on your mental health and negative emotions, even when it can be scary to do so.

As a boy, we are often brought up being called a crybaby when we show sadness, or a wussy if we show fear. Society soon teaches us that demonstrating anger is also unacceptable, and so we're often left bottling up emotions until they all become too much, and one trivial thing becomes the final straw and we are left wondering why we over-reacted...

Similarly, "postive thinking" is all the rage now, where we are told that if we think a negative thought, then we should just replace it with a postive thought instead... I think this just puts away the negative feelings for a while, and they will surface later... leaving us confused as we don't really know why we feel that way anymore... we can't really remember the cause of the unresolved feelings.

It is braver and wiser, even if it's scarier, to say that it's okay not to be okay and work through the negative emotions now. Once that is done, maybe then we can start to look for the positive side and the opportunities that are there...

It's strange to me that I have found a pop song to convey this message instead of some deep classic folk song, but I have a little game where I like to play the bare bones of a pop song on my single acoustic guitar and see if it still sounds okay... i think this one does!

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the topic as well as the song!

See you next week?

Here's the original video with the lyrics underneath!

It's Okay not to be Okay - Demi Lovato & Marshmello (2021)
Lyrics

Feeling like a drop in the ocean
That don't nobody notice
Maybe it's all just in your head
Feeling like you're trapped in your own skin
And now your body's frozen
Broken down, you've got nothing left

When you're high on emotion
And you're losing your focus
And you feel too exhausted to pray
Don't get lost in the moment
Or give up when you're closest
All you need is somebody to say

It's okay not to be okay
It's okay not to be okay
When you're down and you feel ashamed
It's okay not to be okay

Feeling like your life's an illusion
And lately, you're secluded
Thinking you'll never get your chance
Feeling like you got no solution
It's only 'cause you're human
No control, it's out of your hands

When you're high on emotion
And you're losing your focus
And you feel too exhausted to pray
Don't get lost in the moment
Or give up when you're closest
All you need is somebody to say

It's okay not to be okay
It's okay not to be okay
When you're down and you feel ashamed
It's okay not to be okay

▶️ 3Speak