Sonata Arctica,

Their music is full of so much emotion.
It immediately changes my mood.
I will be attending their upcoming headlining show at The Galaxy. (I am very excited)
I found out my old guitar teacher's band "Ellerman" will be playing with them.
I was screaming and was totally shocked for a couple of minutes, once I found out.
HE'S SO GOD DAMNED LUCKY. PLAYING ALONG SUCH GREAT MUSICIANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I have their discography down and I have been listening to it non-stop for the last 2 hours or so. I am in a current S.A. phase. I am not sure if it's a phase, but I am definately loving their music. A LOT. I just cannot explain how beautiful it is.

Tony's vocals. I learned how to sing the right way listening to this band. (While attempting to sing Fullmoon, I will never be able to sing as powerfully good as Tony, seriously.)
It was the song "Fullmoon" that got me into this band and into power metal in general.

I decided to search up their name on google and I stumbled onto their official page.
I started reading the band member's little biography introduction information type thing. I got to Elias Viljanen's life philosophy and saw that it said "Fake it till you make it". After reading his whole explanation of the quote, I was quickly reminded of my old blog post about that same quote,

“Fake it ´til you make it"

People have asked me "what the hell does it mean?"
Well, it's just a phrase and basically a way of positive thinking, achieving your goals and a better life. As a child before I even had my own guitar, I knew what I was going to be when I get older. And we sure practiced in front of a mirror with my friends playing "the guitar" with tennis rackets :-) But, this is not exactly a philosophy for me, since I don't consider myself to be an idealist of any kind. But usually you have to overestimate your abilities and confidence to achieve your goals.

Wikipedia explains it this way:

"Fake it till you make it" (also called "act as if") is a common catchphrase that means to imitate confidence so that as the confidence produces success, it will generate real confidence. The purpose is to avoid getting stuck in a self fulfilling prophecy related to one's fear of not being confident, e.g., by thinking, "I can't ask that girl out because she would sense my lack of confidence."
The article How You Too Can Be an Optimist in Prevention points out, "In research at Wake Forest University, for example, scientists asked a group of 50 students to act like extroverts for 15 minutes in a group discussion, even if they didn’t feel like it. The more assertive and energetic the students acted, the happier they were".

It is often recommended as a method of overcoming depression. In this case, the idea is to go through the routines of life as if one were enjoying them, despite the fact that initially it feels forced, and continue doing this until the happiness becomes real. This is an example of a positive feedback loop.

The phrase is often associated with Alcoholics Anonymous. AA to Z; An Addictionary of the 12-Step Culture describes it as a "suggestion often made to NEWCOMERS who feel they can't get the program and will go back to old behavior. The suggestion implies that if the newcomer acts according to the steps and teachings of the program, then the program will begin to work and the anxiety will fall away".
The technique is somewhat controversial in sales settings; Take Your Team to the Top claims "That you can’t 'fake it till you make it' because you can never be consciously aware of all the things that give you away as a fraud". Source: (http://www.sonataarctica.info/site07/index.php?s=51&l=uk)

I definately agree with everything that he believes in this quote.

I would also like to add more onto this quote, "Fake it till you make it." (It will manifest itself, as soon as your mind set gets used to it.)

Some people just really need to believe in it, and have to truly try to let their whole mind and being let what you're trying to be, manifest itself. Yes, it is definately not as easy as it sounds, but you just have to REALLY REALLY TRY. It took me awhile to really get it through my head. We all live and learn, right? Or atleast... I hope you are all living and LEARNING.

I had totally forgotten about this quote. Well not completely forgot it, but I have forgotten to apply it to my life's philosophy. Thank you, Sonata Arctica's Elias for reminding me.

Once I get the money, I will definitely be ordering their albums.

I always find that music has been making HUGE craters and impacts all throughout my life. (in good ways of course)

I LOVE LIFE.

~DT