NF JOURNEY: HOPE!

Song: HOPE

Artist: NF

I'VE MADE IT!!! HOPE!! THE FINAL STOP (SO FAR) ON THE NF JOURNEY!!! I CANNOT WAIT!! 😭🙌

As you may know, if you've been following my journey going on this "NF Journey" then you will know I've actually already heard this song before, but I HAVE NOT seen the video yet. I'm so glad I waited because I just KNOW there's going to be so many connections and callbacks to past videos and songs and moments from along this journey that will be shown. So happy I took my brothers advice and waited to watch until I really "got to know him." The song hit an emotional nerve for me when I first listened to it so I can only imagine what the video will do to me! 😭😭 I have not allowed myself to go back and listen to this song since the beginning of March when I first started down this rabbit hole (which is almost exactly one month ago to the day!). I do feel like I cheated a little bit by hearing this song before going back and listening to everything...especially as I've noticed little tidbits here and there in some of his other songs that have made me think of this one...but it's OK. I'm just excited to finally get to experience this MASTERPIECE! From everything I've seen from him before, I KNOW this is going to be the best yet as he just continually seems to outdo himself time after time!

SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO....HOPE. 🔥✊🙌😭💓

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDDDDDDDEEEEEEE. 🔥🔥💣💥✊👊🙌😲😵😭💀💓

THIS WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT!!!!!

HIS BEST VIDEO YET!!!! HE DID NOT DISAPPOINT!!!

I'M SO PROUD OF HIM!!!! I'M SO HAPPY FOR HIM!!!! HE DESERVES IT ALL!!!!

YOU GO NATE!!!! 

ALL THE CALLBACKS!! I CAN'T!!! 

I LOVE IT!!! ALL OF IT!!! 

I FEEL SO INSPIRED BY WATCHING THIS VIDEO!! LIKE, I'M READY TO CHANGE MY LIFE!!

THANK YOU NF!!!

HE FOUND THE MAP!!! 👊😭 I'M FOLLOWING YOU'RE LEAD MAN!! 

I'M SHAKING!!! THIS WAS EVERYTHING!!! 

Drifting in the ocean

The white clothes

Why callback "What's your definition of success?" HE KNOWS WHAT IT IS NOW!!

The map to Hope "I'm searching for the map to HOPE you seen it?"

Mansion

The shopping cart and balloons

The room full of balloons

The cage with the keys

Outcast

THE OLD MAN IN THE CAGE HOLDING THE KEYS!! 🤯😱😭💀

"Mama I forgive you"  😭 HE'S FORGIVEN HIS MOM "I ain't gon' say that I forgive you 'cause it hasn't happened"  GOOD FOR YOU NATE! SO PROUD OF YOU!! WHAT AN EXAMPLE!!

OLD NATE TRYING TO BREAK THROUGH AND TAKE OVER BUT NEW NATE IS FIGHTING!! 😱😱👊😭

TRULY A MASTERPIECE IN EVERY SINGLE WAY. 

THIS JOURNEY HAS BEEN LIFE-CHANGING FOR ME.

Hope

I'm on my way, I'm coming

Don't, don't lose faith in me

I know you've been waitin'

I know you've been prayin' for my soul

Hope, hope

Thirty years you been draggin' your feet

Tellin' me I'm the reason we're stagnant

Thirty years you've been claimin' your rightness

And promisin' progress, but where's it at?

I don't want you to feel like a failure (Failure)

I know this hurts (Hurts)

But I gave you your chance to deliver

Now it's my turn   🔥🔥😭 THIS IS ME. RIGHT NOW. ME TALKING TO ME. What a slap to the face but I NEED IT MAN!!

Don't get me wrong, Nate you've had a great run

But it's time to give the people somethin' different

So without further ado, I'd like to introduce my

My album, my album, my album, my album, my album, my album 😲😵😭💣💥

Hope  🔥💣💥✊👊🙌😭💓

What's my definition of success?  🔥😲😭💓 THE FREAKING CALLBACK TO WHY? HE KNOWS HIS DEFINITION!!

Listening to what your heart says

Standing up for what you know is

Right, while everybody else is

Tucking their tail between their legs (Okay)

What's my definition of success?

Creating something no one else can

Bein' brave enough to dream big

Grindin' when you're told to just quit

Givin' more when you got nothin' left

It's a person that'll take a chance on

Somethin' they were told could never happen

It's a person that can see the bright side through the dark times when there ain't one

It's when someone who ain't never had nothin'

Ain't afraid to walk away from more profit

'Cause they'd rather do somethin' that they really love and take the paycut

It's a person that would never waiver

Or change who they are

Just to try and gain some credibility

So they could feel accepted by a stranger

It's a person that can take the failures in their life and turn them into motivation

It's believing in yourself when no one else does, it's amazing  🔥💣💥✊👊🙌😭

What a little bit of faith can do if you don't even believe in you

Why would you think or expect anybody else that's around you to?

I done did things that I regret

I done said things I can't take back

Was a lost soul at a cross road who had no hope but I changed that

I spent years of my life holdin' on to things I never should've kept, full of hatred

Years of my life carryin' a lot of baggage that I should've walked away from

Years of my life wishin' I was someone different, lookin' for some validation

Years of my life tryna fill the void, pretending I was in—

They get it  🔥🔥💣💥✊👊🙌😭💀💓  THIS SONG IS LITERALLY EVERYTHING I NEED TO MOVE FORWARD AND SUCCEED IN LIFE!!

Growing pain's a necessary evil

Difficult to go through, yes, but beneficial

Some would say having a mental breakdown is a negative thing which on one hand I agree with

On the other hand, it was the push I needed to get help and start the healing process, see  🔥👊🙌

If I'd have never hit rock bottom

Would I be the person that I am today?

I don't believe so

I'm a prime example of what happens when you choose to not accept defeat and face your demons

Took me thirty years to realize that if you want to get the opportunity to be the greatest version of yourself

Sometimes you got to be someone you're not to hear the voice of reason  🔥👊🙌😭💓 YES!

Having kids will make you really take a step back and look in the mirror

At least for me that's what it did, I

Wake up every day and pick my son up

Hold him in my arms

And let him know he's loved (Loved)

Standing by the window questioning if dad is ever going to show up (Up)

Isn't something he's goin' to have to worry about

Don't get it twisted, that wasn't a shot

Mama I forgive you  😭 HE'S FORGIVEN HIS MOM 

I just don't want him to grow up thinkin' that he'll never be enough

Thirty years of running, thirty years of searching

Thirty years of hurting, thirty years of pain

Thirty years of fearful, thirty years of anger

Thirty years of empty, thirty years of shame

Thirty years of broken, thirty years of anguish

Thirty years of hopeless, thirty years of (hey)

Thirty years of never, thirty years of maybe

Thirty years of later, thirty years of fake

Thirty years of hollow, thirty years of sorrow

Thirty years of darkness, thirty years of (Nate)

Thirty years of baggage, thirty years of sadness

Thirty years of stagnant, thirty years of chains

Thirty years of anxious, thirty years of suffering

Thirty years of torment, thirty years of (wait)

Thirty years of bitter, thirty years of lonely

Thirty years of pushing everyone away

You'll never evolve, I know I can change

We are not enough, we are not the same

You don't have the heart, you don't have the strength

You don't have the will, you don't have the faith

You'll never be loved, you'll never be safe

Might as well give up, not running away

You don't have the guts, you're the one afraid

I'm the one in charge

I'm taking the— (No)

I'm taking the

Reins  🔥🔥💣💥✊👊🙌😲😵😭💀💓❗❗

THIS WHOLE LAST SECTION IS ME. I DON'T HAVE THE WORDS TO EXPLAIN WHAT THIS MEANS TO ME. IT HITS SO HARD AND MAKES ME SOB!! THANK YOU NATE!! 

I'm sad that I'm all caught up with NF, hahaha. I have so enjoyed listening to him all month and diving deeper and deeper into his songs and lyrics. Truly life-changing. Now, I pray I have the courage to take my words and put them into ACTION. With NF as the new soundtrack to my life! 👊 Thank for joining me on what I HOPE, is a never-ending journey.

I want to share some comments from various NF videos that have resonated with me and explained the power of his music so much better than I ever could. All I can contribute to each one of these is an aggressive nodding of my head and big emphatic YES! to each one. Thanks fam for your words! I know you don't know me - and don't know that I've even read these comments and will probably never come across my blog, but they speak to the way I feel when I listen to NF. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! They are POWERFUL and inspiring to me!! 

"There's something about NF's music that makes me feel like I can win a war..it's super motivating." - THIS! ABSOLUTELY FEEL THIS!!

"NF has evolved into FINAL BOSS MODE." - 😂😂 YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!

"I think some people come into the world "knowing" what they are meant to do. It is written in the very fabric of who they are. NF is one of those people. Despite going through Hell and back, he has the ability to articulate and visualize the things we've gone through and the things we feel that are locked inside and are to painful to speak, to painful to face. He is the voice of the people who don't have the words, who don't have the strength, who don't have enough hope or faith. He reminds us all that we are not alone in our mansions, we all carry black balloons, we all have times where we are lost, where we hate ourselves, and that's ok, we are human. In the end of it all, it makes us who we are right now. We can overcome it all. ❤" - 😭💓 THIS IS BEATUIFUL!!

"Kyle the quote you shared about how it's ok to not be ok, but not to stay there really resonated with me. That's exactly what I did for most of my life, I sat in my depression and got comfortable there. It was scary to even consider leaving that state of mind, sort of like how you said when you're in pain, doing anything else (including trying to feel happy, for me) is just going to be harder....This is why I love NF, for the same thing you guys have repeated in different reactions, he's someone that will tell you the truth that you need to hear even though he knows you won't want to hear it, which is actually a huge sign of a good friend, and Nate even mentions that in "Lost" when he says "We need someone that'll be honest when we fly off the handle", it really does feel like he's inside my mind sometimes with a great sense of understanding, ... I'm really happy that the stigma around mental health is continuing to be broken down because although everyone's stress is from different situations/circumstances a lot of people struggle with their stress in the same way. It's a huge part of our human nature, but there's another element of human nature which is to connect with other people and be able to rely on and strengthen each other.  Although not a face to face one, hearing you guys talk about this felt like one of those connections, so thank you." - A comment left on my favorite reactors channel that touched me deeply and I related to instantly. Thank you for being so vulnerable 💓

"Since my rock bottom apparently has a basement😑 I've learned to deal with it by going to therapy with NF, everyday! Truly a life saver!" FACTS! 🔥

""I didn't think that somebody could get me pumped up about dealing with my mental illness."  

That's actually an excellent summary of NF as an artist!" - Another comment left on the reactors channel...sadly I can't remember which video it was for but yeah! That's a PERFECT description of NF and his REAL music!

A few comments specifically referring to Hope:

THIS PERSON FOR THE WIIIIIIN!! They referenced every single "Easter egg" from the video with time stamps and everything! THANK YOU RANDOM CITIZEN!! 🔥🤯😍🙌

"0:20 The Raft "Drifting" in the Water

0:30 Nate‘s white Clothes (The Search, Leave Me Alone, Paid my Dues)

1:05 Paddle from "Lost" (Lost) 

1:06 Fear's first Line (Intro III)

1:16 Hope Island, strong opposite to Lost scenery (Lost)

1:23 Nate and Fear argue over who made the album (Intro III)

1:31 Definition of success (Why)

2:00 Feelings giving wrong Directions (Just Like You) 𝅘𝅥𝅮"Know that your feelings might give wrong directions" 𝅘𝅥𝅮

2:20 Map of Hope (The Search)

2:54 Mansion (Mansion)

2:54 Dramatic Scene change (Clouds)

3:19 Shopping Cart and Balloons (The Search, Leave Me Alone, Why)

3:36 Room full of Regrets (Mansion)

3:44 Cell and Keys (Outcast)

3:44 Old man (Let You Down)

3:58 Nate gets "Kidnapped" (Green Lights)

4:12 Nate forgives his Mother (How could you Leave Us?)

4:16 30 Years of….(The Search, Hate Myself, Nate, Why)

4:44 Nate vs Fear (Intro III)

4:58 Nate takes the Reigns (Lost) 𝅘𝅥𝅮"And put the reins on 'em, show 'em I'm the one that's the boss."𝅘𝅥𝅮

This Journey Is INSANE" - Indeed it is! And I'm here for every second of it!

"He found hope. We found NF. To some of us it's the same thing." - 😭🙌💓 YES!

"I took it as dark Nate made Hope go the wrong way, making him go in circles. When dark Nate pushed Hope into the mansion it was to tell hope that’s where Nate lives and Nate is hopeless. But hope was always there. Nate was looking for the map to hope and hope was trying to connect with Nate. They finally meet. This is a new Era! 

This is NF cinematic universe! 

I can’t wait for the album!" - 👏👊😍 LOVE THIS!

"I really liked the story line. Nate started by finally deciding to make the change he seemed so fearful of before. Now he that he was following the map to hope and committed to it, he still struggled with his "dark side" that pushed him into the struggle in his head. He had to revisit some of the harder parts of his past, but didn't get stuck in any of those rooms. Then we see Nate pretty much kidnapped by that "dark side" and he winds up on the mountain top. Honestly it reminds me of the Bible story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. He had to struggle with temptation and he decided to overcome and take control." - 💓👊 Nate has officially kick-started me on my journey to find HOPE. 🙏💪

"Can I just say this? HOW PROUD ARE WE OF NATHAN?!? Seriously, just as a person. This journey, what he's done. It's bigger than him. But his willingness to share this growth and this journey is going to move and change the lives of millions in their own journey to have the courage to find hope. I'm just... speechless." - 👏✊👊🙌💓 YEEEEESSS!! SO PROUD! 😭💓

"A song that made me forgive myself." - 🙏😭💓 THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!! Not quite there but I'M ON MY WAY!! 👊

"Anyone else feel their life changing while listening to this???" - 🙌🙋😭💓 MEEEEE!!

Some of the replies to above👆comment:

"It isn't a competition. you take how much time you need. we all heal differently. just because someone heals faster doesn't mean they’re a better human being than us. take your time. healing is a journey." - 💓😭

"I feel the same. it sucks. but there's still this sprinkle of hope that someday it's going to get better. you're not alone ❤"  

"You're completely right. it's just hard for my brain to comprehend that even if i understand it. thank you for the reminder ❤"

"Healing isn't always linear.  We can't compare our journey to others. Our timelines will never be the same. Keep your head up. <3"

CAN I LIKE, MEET ALL OF YOU PEOPLE?? 💓😭

"There's millions of us JUST LIKE YOU, like you, like you. Just like you, like you." .... 

" ... Just look at all the minds I've opened and penetrated. See, I am the voice of all these kids that think things but never say 'em...I just write what I feel, somehow it started a movement. Trying to enjoy a career but I don't know how to do it. When I spend all of my time being afraid I'ma lose it. But then I figured out the reason they follow me, the reason the why these fans surrounding me...I'm just teaching 'em something they couldn't learn in they colleges. This is for the kids feeling like they live at the bottom and every day of they lives looks like it's darker than Halloween! Yeah, you ain't alone out there, look around you—we got a lot of fans in here!"