“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.