By Michelle Carr
For me, my love of the band started in 2005 with one song, A Beautiful Lie, and a familiar face. I didn’t realize Jared Leto was the vocalist of Thirty Seconds to Mars until after I fell in love with the song. I was completely in awe. I loved the music, the lyrics seemed to speak to me. Everything I heard from them I found amazing and was blown away. I can’t tell you how many times I listened to their CD, A Beautiful Lie. But every time was just as good as hearing it for the first time.
When 30STM came out with This Is War, I wasn't aware of everything they had gone through to make that album. But in listening to the songs, I could tell there was a big change from what I had heard before. There was a now burning rage beneath the lyrics. The challenge to accept a fight. I learned about what had happened to the band from their Artifact documentary. Knowing the story behind the songs, they all began to make sense. I was angered by fact that they were sued and almost lost the ability to do the thing they loved most, make music. I couldn’t help but join in on the songs as if I were joining them in the fight. I was moved and inspired beyond words by this CD. I grew a whole new found respect for this group of guys that I had already grown to love. That is when I knew for certain that I am an Echelon. An Echelon being a member of the family that formed from the mutual love and respect for 30STM.
Then when I seemed to need it the most, I began to hear the message:
Follow your dreams. Don’t give up. Believe.
Even though these were things I had heard repeatedly in the past, I listened this time. I think for the most part, it hit home because they themselves had just went through a horrible battle fighting for their own art. As I heard the repeated message to follow your dreams, a fire grew inside of me. I realized that I couldn’t go any longer without pursuing mine. I knew in order to be at the happiest that I could be I needed to stop making excuses and just do it. So I took a leap, jumped back into what had always given me the greatest of joys, writing. I have reconnected with that part of myself that I had believed was gone. I pulled my lost self out of the rubble, dusted her off and embraced her tightly. Now, I have taken steps that I had convinced myself were no longer possible for me. I live every day following my dreams, pushing myself to see what I can accomplish.
Slowly through Instagram, Vyrt and Twitter, I started to discover other members of the Echelon family. I am blown away everyday by how creative, beautiful and simply wonderful everyone in this family is. They are some of the most open minded, daring and compassionate people that I have ever met. I happily embrace all those whose paths I cross, as they have embraced me. I am so lucky to have my Echelon brothers and sisters in my life. We all started with loving the music, the band and then found something more. Each and every one of us knows it’s not just the band or the music (as wonderful as it is) but the sense of community and love. We have found our family in this group of misfits, people who are flawed and yet simply a perfect fit for us. We share an understanding, the need to be ourselves. We fight for our dreams and the things that we are most passionate about. We are the dreamers, the believers. We are the leaders of change, each doing his or her own part to try and make this world a better place. From Mars and the Echelon, I am inspired daily to better myself and become the person I have always wanted to be. I am constantly motivated to follow my dreams and dream bigger, never stopping. I have found comfort and love. Among the Echelon, I have found my home. I am and will always be proud to say I am the Echelon.
I know that many people won’t understand and even perhaps think that I’m a little nutty. But it’s okay if you do, I don’t mind. Just because these things have affected me so, doesn’t mean they will for you. I encourage you all to find what does have this effect on you. Find what makes you happy. Find what inspires you. What helps to make you to be the best you that you can be. Now embrace it. Be brave and jump in with everything you are. Because we are only really truly happy when we start to follow our hearts.
