What The Beatles mean to me: as a writer, as a human being

Plenty of our childhood memories tend to disappear as the storage capacity in our brains is filled up with new and more prevalent information. After all, forgetting is what makes us human.

However, what we do remember from our toddler days, usually stick around either because the particular event had a significant impact in our lives, or because our brain has made new connections to previous information that had already been stored in the brain. Regardless of the reason, every individual has held onto a handful of memories from their youth — revisiting the memory during boring work hours, or long market lines.

For me, that recollection comes in the form of music, namely The Beatles. I distinctly remember what seemed like long car rides to and from elementary school, jamming out in my OJ stained car seat to one (of many) of my mother’s classic rock CD collections, Abbey Road.

Although I don’t play an instrument, I love The Beatles. Growing up with The Beatles, I have learned that my knowledge about love, peace, and simplicity can be a bit different from that of the average teenager, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Through my love for The Beatles, I have become more drawn to literature than to calculus.

Through my love for The Beatles, I enjoy living my life, instead of documenting every moment for social media. And through my love for The Beatles, I have developed a sense of creative freedom, and I often find myself engaging in new ideas and creating novel solutions to difficult problems.

The four poets of the ’60s have taught me— a modern-day teenager, that sometimes rebelling against a certain way of life is okay. This sense of independence has lived on in me, and I use it to guide me through the turbulence of my adolescence.

In short, I no longer restrict my imagination but instead let it roam free.

While my journey may or may not lead me to great fame or adulation, it will be one of my own design. One of my favorite Beatles lyrics comes from Abbey Road: “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

This mantra has been with me my whole life and I interpret it as such: there is no right way to be happy, so focus your unique efforts on putting goodness into the world and a happy life will be yours.