We all need somebody to lean on

Emotions are interesting. They generally depict your life. Emotions are feelings. They serve as a kind of second conscience next to our moral conscience. Being the social beings that we are, emotions are what allow us to connect with one another.

A few weeks ago, after I wrote an article defending my friends on the Massachusetts baseball team, one of those friends came up to me and asked what had prompted me to insert a line from the song “Stand By Me” into the article.

The verse goes: “If the sky that we look upon/Should tumble and fall/And the mountains should crumble to the sea/I won’t cry, I won’t cry, no I won’t shed a tear/Just as long as you stand, stand by me.”

I had quoted this verse from the song to illustrate a point, and to employ the feeling that there were people who were willing to stand by them.

What made me incorporate this feeling into the article? What it came down to were emotions. Each week, as I sit and write these articles, I try to write about a topic that triggers emotions within me. It is then my job to try to pass that emotion that comes with the information that I am writing about to the reader.

I could write about a subject that I have many theories on that would make me look intelligent. But what would that accomplish? If it doesn’t have a relevant point that someone can relate to or learn something from, it accomplishes nothing. Writing these articles is about discovering things, whether that be emotions, reasons or current events. That is what life is about: a learning experience.

Sometimes, using experiences from your personal life to aid your story is therapeutic. If that will help me connect with you, the reader, I will do so in order to get the point across.

When my friend asked me about this certain line, it made me think about why I had written it. I knew what I was saying when I wrote it but didn’t fully understand the reasons why.

The reason I used that certain line is reflected in the power and values of the title of the song itself. Think about it. “Stand By Me.” If you say those three words slowly a few times, it is bound to trigger an emotion. It triggers an emotion of when you were going through a rough time and needed a shoulder to lean on.

We each have our own stories of times when we were in need of something. We would like to believe that we are solid rocks and don’t need anyone to help us stand. Nothing could be further from the truth, and we all know it. We all need friends to support us.

I’m not going to preach about how we all need to support each other. I don’t know your life any more than you know mine. What I can do is explain to all of you the reason why I quoted a 48-year-old song to illustrate the emotion of needing someone.

For me, those words formed an exact memory. During the summer of 2006, these words were more of a silent plea than a motto. It was the summer between my senior year of high school and freshman year here at the University of Massachusetts.

Towards the end of my senior year of high school, I dislocated my elbow. I would not regain full use of my right arm until after college had started.

That summer in between was not at all fun. I was a miserable person to be around. I alienated friends when I needed them the most. When you suffer three major joint dislocations in a two-and-a-half-year span, maybe you have the right to be cynical. That was my justification. I was wrong.

I tried to be my own island and it didn’t work. I needed support from friends, not just my family. I was silently begging for my friends to stand by me. However, in order to receive love, you need to be willing to give love.

This experience is what made me think of the song “Stand By Me.” After thinking about those words, I also realized that we all need someone to aid us in life. Life is empty when there is no one to stand by you, whether it is in your hour of glory or your hour of sorrow.

Everyone needs friends. Everyone needs someone to stand by them. That is why I used a verse from “Stand By Me” in an article defending my friends and, to answer the question that my friend asked that day.

I learned from my experience and realized that emotions are so powerful. Emotions are the bonding mechanism with other people. We need to listen to our emotions from time to time because we need each other.

Matt Kushi is a Collegian columnist. He can be reach at mkushi@student.umass.edu.