Make. Believe.

Life is a tremendous adventure, and I am in the midst of a beautiful journey. A few days ago I got lost in a world that I had not visited for a while. Where you may ask?


The Land of Make-Believe

You know the place where you can be a Pirate, or an Astronaut? A Princess, or a puppy? That place where there is total freedom to be who you want, and no one is telling you what to think. Un-less your older sibling forces you to be a different character because he or she already is that character.


Three year old Ellie and I found ourselves amongst dragons, drinking sleep poison, playing Princess, running through forests, and talking to invisible characters. I was whisked into a world where Reality was galaxies away. My imagination was pryed open, and though a little rusty at first I felt my rigid, boxed mindset breaking down. I was able to create, explore, and experience a place outside of the boundaries that my life sustains. Finals, jobs, relationships and so much more can be incredibly time consuming. It's so easy to become overwhelmed and focused on things that will fade away. Escaping those burdens felt liberating, and afterwards I felt energized. Maybe that sounds exaggerated but I'm being honest.

I don't want to miss the little things that make life so worth living. I don't want to be afraid to imagine, and create, to laugh at myself, to be out of the ordinary, to dance, to sing, to live my life broken free from the restrictions I think I need. It's not that I'm hating the responsibility that comes with growing up, but I don't want to forget the need for balance. It's okay to be a dork and laugh at mistakes. Sometimes I get filled with fear of the future, and I can't see past what's right in front of me. The funny thing is, today is the the day I was worrying about yesterday, and worrying about today didn't make it any better. Perspective is a choice, and the way I tackle obstacles will make me who I am. So good bye to fear, hello to joy. 

I'm learning to cherish people, and experiences (even the small, seemingly insignificant ones). Even though people have the potential to be absolutely hateful and violent, they also have just as much potential to be beautiful. We were all young and full of innocence at one time, though the world comes to beat it out of us as soon as possible. I remember when I was about 6 or 7, I was riding a carousal in the mall after eating at Red Robin. I remember watching all of the adults, in their suits, holding briefcases, and shopping bags on the way to accomplish their tasks for the day. I looked at my Grandmother and told her, "They just need to stop and watch the kids on the carousal." The everyday problems we encounter will never cease. One set of problems will trade themselves out for the next, and so the cycle will continue. We can embrace the problems as a part of life, or continue to be taken off guard and allow them to burden us. I don't want to miss out on how yummy life is because of bitterness. Shake it off!

Love and play like a child, it will heal your heart. Stop for a second and breathe, you can still make believe.

Stand Up. Care,

Hello:)
Recently I had to write an argumentative paper on how I believe the U.S. Government needs to loosen it's tight grip on the oil industry. I became very intrigued with how articles and information sources can be so biased towards one way of thinking. It almost scares me how un-informed people of this Country are because the information provided is so one sided. To be honest, the research I had to do in order to prove the side of my argument was extensive and difficult.

While I was writing my paper I realized how much i did not know.
It's much easier to pretend that the problems in our world are just stories we watch through our TV screens, or events we read about on the web. Politics, and government are sore subjects with young people today. The youth of this nation are extremely passionate and creative. We are the future, but I'm afraid that we are allowing apathy towards the government to seep into our very way of thinking.

I myself have thought that getting involved in politics is a waste of my time, that my vote really won't matter, and found that ignoring the issues is so much easier than facing them.

WE CAN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF WE DON'T MOVE.

While writing my paper I began to research other issues that are relevant in our society today. I had no idea who was in the running for the next presidential election, what the Keyston Pipeline project was, or the demands of protestors on Occupy Wall Street. I was dissapointed by the protestors, and their lack of knowledge. Many had no idea why they were even there. When asked, they didn't have any valid reasons and ended up looking pretty ridiculous. After watching some of the videos of the protests I felt like I needed to make a change in the way I thought about politics. I have been pretty obsessed with figuring out where I stand on issues since then, and finding information to back up my beliefs.

I'm not writing this for any particular side, though I have my beliefs and am not afraid to express them. I'm wiritng this because I truly believe that the youth of today need to be interested in the happenings of this country. I want to have a voice, but I when I speak I want my words to be meaningful. We need to pay attention and we need to care about what goes on in this country. We need something to stand up for.


Stand Up For What You Believe In - Picture Quotes