"Keep moving forward."

"Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long.

We keep moving forward,

opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious...

and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

Let's try something new, and forget everything bad in our past. We can't keep our eyes on the road if we're looking in the rear-view mirror. Life has too many things waiting for us, and it would be a shame to throw them away because we think we aren't ready for them. Because we are. Opportunities are all around us, and every second a new door is opening. Just keep your eyes open, except when you're asleep (because everything's at least a little bit better in your dreams). Then, maybe, one day, we won't just have to dream in our sleep. We could dream with our eyes wide open, and plunge ourselves into new things without looking back. Everything will be just fine, as long as we stay strong, never give up, and keep moving forward.

Catching up

Just to keep anyone up to date on my going-ons, I decided to put a more... normal post on this. Most of them are just based on song lyrics and random, pretty thoughts I pull out of my head. How bout a more diary-type-but-not-so-personal entry for you? Back to the real world for a minute, here goes nothin'!
Alrightie, so, not many big things have happened. I'm trying to improve on my schoolwork.... trying. But one of the most memorable things I did this past month was audition for KY GSA. It stands for Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts, and is basically a summer camp that focuses on different art forms. I tried out for both Drama and Musical Theater. But, the only one I'm thinkin' I stand a bit of a chance in is drama. I ain't the greatest when it comes to singin', but hey, I have fun, and hopefully I'm not too bad! Well, the musical theater audition wasn't a train wreck, but I don't have much experience in that area, so I doubt I'll be picked for that.
But, my drama audition went surprisingly well. I feel a lot better about it because I attended an art shop for KY GSA a few months earlier and got to know one of the judges and spend a whole day with her learning tips and developing more skills. Even if I don't get it, I had fun! I get my results April 15th, so I'll be sure to let ya'll know on here!

Other than that, everything's just goin' by pretty slow.
I'm just waitin' to see what life has in store for me.
I guess.

"Hope never abandons you, you abandon it."

Hope is always there for you, helping you to get through each day.
At least, that's how I picture it.
I'm sometimes called immature or childish, but I was just born with a child's eyes. I only see the good in everything-- in everyone. I believe that everything we've lost will one day be found again. I believe that everyday will get better and better. I believe that the sun will always shine on us. I believe we can all get somewhere. I believe that we will all find what we're looking for. I believe promises, fairy tales, and make-believe. I believe that we all belong somewhere. I believe in love. I believe that happiness is the way to go. I believe in falling seven times and standing back up eight.
There may not be many people that believe in all the things I do, but maybe, there are some that believe in hope.

"The golden age is before us, not behind us."

The past is behind us now, and there's no point in looking back on it. We've learned from our successes and ever more so from our mistakes. Hopefully that means we won't make the same mistakes twice-- but, I guess, everyone makes mistakes... some more often than others. Just keep keepin' on! It's always worked for me.
I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this.... we'll just have to see.
The message for today is that the answers aren't always in the back of the book, just like the corrections for your mistakes aren't always answered in your past. You just have to learn these things for yourself, and find new answers through new experiences.
So, then, when the silver of the presence starts to rust into the past, the future will show out in gold, and we'll know exactly what we're doing.

"Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out."

It's impossible to progress in life without being flexible. Not everything is handed to you-- that would be too easy! But, never forget, there is still a way to make ends meet. Things may not always turn out the way you want them to, but that does not mean that they don't turn out for the best. Usually, though, we only learn that things turned out better in the long run. That's why you should never grieve over a mistake you made or the way you handled something-- because it's only helping you to become a better person, and make smarter choices.
It's important to remember that the questions of life don't have any wrong answers. In the end, it's all the same. We just have to reach for the stars, and if we can't quite grasp them, try again after we've grown a bit taller. We just have to learn to love what he have. Because sometimes, the last thing you want comes in first. Sometimes, the first thing you want never comes. And I know that waiting is all you can do, sometimes.

"No one ever takes a photograph of something they want to forget."

I've often heard people say that they have absolutely "no regrets." I just kinda find that hard to believe. I mean, don't they have something they feel bad about? Something they did that they wish they didn't? Or something they didn't say, and wish they had? Of course they do. They have regrets. We all have regrets. It's just at the time, when you're caught up in the moment, that you don't care about the consequences. I guess I've known a time where nothing else seems to matter. But, eventually, the world of what-might-have-been throws you out on your own, and your life comes crashing down as the real world sets in. Sometimes I wonder if the things I do were really worth it. I mean, they did make me happy once. I would never do anything if I hadn't any reason to. But, hey, I've been to that world of what-might-have-been plenty of times, and it's never failed to kick me right back out. Something just keeps me going back. And, as long as I have that, then the world of what-might-have-been may just one day become the world of what-is.

"You come home everyday to your hopes, your dreams, your everything"

And I have a question:
What is love?
What is love?
Love...
Is it giving up?
'Cause that's not how you raised me.

Everything we need is right in front of us. So, why are we still looking? The only thing you gotta do is just realize it before you lose it. The best qualities a person can have, I'd say, is to be reliable. There may be a lot of corruption in this world, but who's to say that all of the good people are gone? They're just hiding out somewhere in the midst of all this. Within our hopes, and within our dreams, is everything that can not be seen or touched. All we have to do is say it like we mean it. I know my words are vague, but I'm more of an artist than I am an author, and people interpret things differently. But maybe I can teach you a little something every once in a while. Here's a tidbit of my "wisdom": everybody needs someone to lean on once in a while. Why not be that person?

"You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

What is it that the Great Unknown has in store for us? For if it is unknown, who says it's so great? Everyone has to find out for themselves. We never know what life has in store for us until we take that first step into the darkness.The most important thing, I think, is to always be filled with optimism, and hope that what life has in store for us is only for the best.

I've come to the conclusion that I don't want to think about things as much as I do. Of course, it's always good to be a little cautious. But me, I want to do everything I've dreamed of without holding back. I guess it's a slow journey, but it's most definitely worth the while. Most of the chances that come my way, I take. Even if they don't pay off in the long run... Hey, I tried, didn't I? That's all that really matters. The people that reached the top of the staircase had to start from the bottom didn't they? You just have to take that first step.

"The biggest questions have the simplest answers."

What do you do if it's your last day on Earth and nobody knows but you, and you only have 24 hours to fulfill all of your life's dreams and let your loved ones know how you feel about them and you're not sure whether you should be sad that you only have one day left, or be happy that you've lived a life full of love and happiness and you still have a chance to make something out of yourself?
Smile,
all the while.

"Many say I am just one to try. I say I am one less to quit."

Things aren't always the way you see them. It may take some imagination to view something in another light, but there always is another light to view it in. I guess that's enough wisdom you need from a sixteen year old girl today. I kind of feel like I'm running out of things to say... maybe I should put some more personality in my blogs? Here, I'll try something new. From now on, I'll just type what I'm feeling without thinking about it for hours.
That's just my problem, I think too hard about what to say that I never have the chance to say it. But, of course, I'm still growing up. I'm still young. I'm still learning. And one thing I've learned is to never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give up.

"And when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer."

"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered.
Full of darkness and danger, they were... And, sometimes, you didn't want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?
But, in the end, it's only a passing thing. The shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. Those are the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going... because they were holding onto something."
But, the question is, what are we holding on to?
Maybe it's that there's some good in this world, and that it's worth fighting for. because the end may not look like it will be happy, but how are we to know? We learn that these things are only passing things, and the sun will mark a new beginning. And when the time comes for the chance to come back, the only ones that will be remembered are the ones that didn't.

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have."

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate life has provided us. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.
We don't need everything in the world to be happy. Sometimes, all we need is love and friendship. If someone were to ask me how I have become the person I am today-- I wouldn't say that it was because of my education, the amount of money I have, or my popularity status. In fact, I'm not the brightest. The money I have buys me only what I need. I'm not accepted by everyone. But, these things don't bring me down, because I think of all the people in my life and all the potential I have, and it's as if I'm on top of the world. The only reasons that I am happy, are because I live simply. I love generously. I care deeply. I speak kindly. And, I enjoy my hot chocolate, as well as all the other gifts life has to offer me.

I may not have the best of everything, but I'm happy because I make the best of everything I have.

“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

If we could get the hang of it entirely, it would take too long; All we know is the splash of words in passing and falling twigs of song. And when we try to eavesdrop on the great presences, it is rarely that, by a stroke of luck, we can appropriate even a phrase entirely. If we could find our happiness entirely in somebody else's arms, we should not fear the spears of the spring nor the city's yammering fire alarms. But, as it is, the spears each year go through our flesh and almost hourly. Bell or siren banishes the blue Eyes of Love entirely. And if the world were black or white entirely, and all the charts were plain, instead of a mad weir of tigerish waters-- a prism of delight and pain. We might be surer where we wished to go, or again we might be merely bored, but in brute reality there is no road that is right entirely.
We have all learned that there most definitely is a right and wrong- but what about the line between the two? How do you distinguish between whether something really is completely right, or really is completely wrong? Well, I believe that a lot of things in life aren't either black or white, but a shade of gray. Maybe a dark gray: leaning more towards wrong, but with slight good intentions, or maybe a light gray: Only good means at heart, with a not so good way of going about it. Sometimes, things are different than we are taught. Sometimes there are exceptions. Every so often, there are times when we must
blur the lines.

"Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, it is the only time we have."

Time seems to pass so quickly nowadays. Or, maybe, it passes too slowly. I'm not quite sure. Who knows, it might just be a little bit of both. Some moments pass you by so fast that you're left standing with no clue what to make of them. Some stay within your grasp only for a little while, leaving you wishing for them to have stayed longer. Yet, there are some that linger, in your reach, waiting for you to seize the opportunity to take them.
A clock doesn't just have to be counting down time-- the time we have left to make something of ourselves. For all we know, it could be counting up time-- the time we have changed this earth and the lives of others. Make each second count, that's a good piece of advice to live by. If we were to "seize the day," so to speak, and make our moments last, well then,

time wouldn't matter anymore.

"We do not simply live our lives for ourselves, but for those who came before and will come after us."

All I really feel the need to do is to make others happy, regardless of whether or not I am happy, myself. It may not be thought of as the wisest of decisions, but I put everyone I know in front of myself-- to me, these people come first. It's scary that the decisions I make in my life are ones that can affect the lives of others. One little mistake can ruin everything. For example-- maybe a very unimaginative example, but a fitting one- if a friend were to tell me a secret that could never be heard by the ears of another, and I told everyone I knew, I would probably lose that friend. Then, we would grow up and go our separate ways. We would get married and have children, or maybe live alone in a one room apartment. We would live a happy life, or rather, a "happy" life, and we would never see each other again. It's funny, isn't? How one domino can knock over twenty? How one person can start a war? How one doubt can rid of all hopes? It's funny, isn't it?
How one little thing... changes everything.

"I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly."

"You would not believe your eyes if ten million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep. 'Cause they'd fill the open air and leave teardrops everywhere. You'd think me rude, but I would just stand and stare. I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly. It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep 'cause everything is never as it seems."

It is true, isn't? Life doesn't last long-- the world seems to turn too fast for any of us to catch up with it. We'd like to make ourselves believe that it doesn't-- but that doesn't stop it. Wishing and believing and dreaming doesn't stop anything. Sometimes, I wish I could take everything important in my life and save them all up in a little jar like fireflies so that they could never get away from me. But I guess that life doesn't ever give you a little jar to save up dreams and wishes like fireflies, because they were meant to fly away, free, into the night. Maybe, if you look close enough at the stars, you'll see one with little wings, and it'll flit away as you make a wish, to someone else's window, someone else's sky, and they'll make a wish too, and maybe one day, all the wishes on fireflies in a jar will come true.

"When I fall asleep...........

...........my dreams are bursting at the seams."

"Demons will charm you with a smile, for a while, but in time..."

Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around.
Nothing's gonna harm you, no sir, not while I'm around. Demons are prowling everywhere, nowadays. I'll send 'em howling, I don't care, I got ways. No one's gonna hurt you, no one's gonna dare. Others can desert you, not to worry, whistle, I'll be there. Demons'll charm you with a smile, for a while, but in time... Nothing can harm you, not while I'm around... Not to worry, not to worry. I may not be smart but I ain't dumb. I can do it, put me to it. Show me something I can overcome. Not to worry. Being close and being clever ain't like being true. I don't need to, I would never hide a thing from you, like some... Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around. Nothing's gonna harm you, darling, not while I'm around. Demons'll charm you with a smile, for a while, but in time...
This year, I'm auditioning for GSA, the Governor's School for the Arts, in the area of Musical Theater. I'm pretty nervous about it, but I'm just going to try my best and see what happens from there. I already have two songs selected, which are "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" from The Sound of Music and "Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney Todd. "Not While I'm around" is probably my favorite song from any musical. It just has so much emotion, and I hope to portray it whenever I try out for GSA in March. The lyrics are just all so true, and not hard for me to relate to. I've learned how it feels to want to protect others from hurt and deception, and to prove that my promises are more than just words. Maybe one day it'll show, and maybe one day, you'll see.

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."

When the darkness envelops the earth and it seems that we are truly lost in our troubles, it appears as if there is no bright side. Most people wonder why it is that there is such a thing as darkness, and why there can not always be light. The truth behind that is this: none of us can truly appreciate the light if there weren't any darkness to separate us from it.
We may not like to admit it, but we learn from all of the bad things in life. The lessons that we learn from our previous mistakes are the ones that keep us from making the same mistakes again. If we never did anything wrong, then we would never do anything right. It's a shame that we aren't all lucky enough to have a chance-- I would know. I've seen to many bad things happen to good people; but never could I bring myself understand why it is that these bad things happen. Nothing seemed to answer any of my questions. So, I asked a friend of mine. I told him of everyone and everything that could never come back and all of these things that just aren't fair.
He told me that things happen and there isn't really much we can do. Sometimes, we can't stop things, and we can't change things, no matter how hard we try. Sometimes, it's too hard to understand, and we just try to shut it out. But that's not the answer, Stephanie. Then he said this:

"It may not make sense to you now, and it may not make sense to you tomorrow. But, I'm sure of it, deep down, that in the end, it will make sense. Everything will. Maybe that's because you can only see the stars at night. It may not make sense when the sun is shining, but when it gets dark, and you see those stars shining, it all seems to make sense then."

"There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all."

Things aren't always that easy-- nope, not at all. But, they could be a little less hard.
No matter what has made you sad, no matter what has angered you, no matter how many lemons life throws at you, a smile will get you through it. That smile doesn't even have to be yours. Sometimes, the things that keep you going aren't from yourself, but from others. The smile of a friend, or even a stranger, is sometimes all that's needed to brighten another's day.
I've come to the realization that life is short, and is never quite what you want it to be. Sometimes, it's hard to just deal. I found that the best way to feel better is to make others feel better. I guess it's just a personal goal, but I've promised myself that no matter how horrible a day I've had, no matter how bad I may feel, no matter how many clouds are over my head, I'd help as many people as I possibly could. Sure, I may be one person-- a very small, insignificant person, in fact-- but it isn't true that there's nothing I can do to help the world. In my mind, happiness is the one thing that everyone seeks for in life. If we all had that, things wouldn't be so bad. Maybe, just maybe, through all the small acts of kindness, kind eyes, kind words, and kind smiles, I might just be able to help the world...

one person at a time.

"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn."

One thing about this world that is troublesome, and sometimes goes unnoticed, is that everything and everyone you know is or will be, someday, lost to change. Things happen and people change before your eyes, and most of the time others seem to overlook it until something different stands before them. Some believe that change is for the better. Some believe that change is for the worst. I'm not quite sure where my stance is on the matter, but sometimes, you'd rather have everything stay the same, at least for a little bit longer. It's hard to grow up and leave behind all the things you've ever known. It's hard when a loved one passes and every aspect of life is different. It's hard when friends leave and when you never get to say goodbye. Change is never easy to deal with. Change is always hard. I've known a lot of people that have been trapped inside the grasp of change's hands, and have never escaped. It's very strange to see someone you once knew so well walk by you as if they've never known you at all. But, the thing is, change happens. Sometimes there is nothing you can do but to somehow find a way past it. Sometimes you'd rather just go back to the world you'd once known where everything was how it used to be, and nothing ever changed; No one ever changed. Sometimes you wish change wouldn't take away the ones that you love.
But sometimes, all you can do is watch the leaves turn color, as the people you once knew turn color, too.