Trying Again

Hey guys! I started a new blog so check it out https://ilettaiunefois.blogspot.com

Thanksgiving

I watched a video at school the other day, and although most of the video was him walking into the sunset as Christian music played ( I'm sure you've all seen the kind of video I'm talking about), he did make one very good point. If all we had today was what we thanked God for, what would we have?

It's actually hard to thank God for something. It is for me at least. It's so much easier to ask him for something new then to thank him for something we already have. And sometimes it's hard to see what we already have.

As a whole, we are a privileged country. But there are people out there who are in more pain than we will ever know. And it's hard to see than pain as something real, or that person as someone we should thank God for. How many times have you driven past a homeless man on the street and tried to avoid looking at him? ( and I could rant for hours about how much I hate the word Hobo but don't worry, I won't.) How many times has a friend, family member, or even complete stranger told you about the sadness in their life and you've avoided the subject? How many times has a classmate been loud and irritating so you distance because you don't want to be seen with them?

I know I'm guilty of all three of those things.

What if instead of looking the other way we said a prayer as we pass him and thank God for a wonderful human life? What if we took the time to tell that person that we're sorry and ask them if we can help, and then thank God we're able to help someone, even if it's in a small way? What if we helped that classmate by calmly helping him with work or talking to him, and then thank God for another person around us?

Of course, don't ever help someone if you think it's the wrong or dangerous thing to do! And this post is not aimed at anyone in particular! I just believe that if we tried to thank God a little more, things would be so much nicer.

So I've been looking back over my last few posts, and boy have I been preachy! I had a bunch of blog posts written out and I'm just trying to get them all up, and apparently they're all me preaching. Sorry, I promise I'll stop telling you all what to do soon and we'll go back to the ol' theater posts again.

What Girls Can Do

This post is not going to be about my feminist side telling everyone about how girls can rule the world. This post is going to be about how easy it is for a girl to drag another one down, and how much impact we can make in each others lives.

Let's face it, girls can be mean. Sure guys can be mean, but then it's over. Girls have to ruin each others lives, and they normally manage it. It's so easy for a girl to tear another one down. It's so much easier to forget about a rude comment a guy makes then it is to let go of a rude comment a girl makes. One comment about how ugly you are, or how your shoes are stupid can ruin your entire day.

Girls are so good at “complementing” someone. We can be so fake, so petty. I have had so many female friends that have come back and bit me. Girls gossip more than boys, and girls have fewer problems with totally ruining an outsiders life, pushing them out. A girl's words can cut deep, even when they are hidden in a compliment.

But there's also something special about female friends. I mean sure, my guy friends are great. But I never run to them when my crush does something stupid of cute, or when I need to fangirl over a book, or when I need to talk about what a bad day I had. There's something special about having a close knit group of female friends, something special you can't get when you hang out with boys.

Girls understand each other more than a boy will ever understand them. They truly get what's going on in each others lives, probably because they've been there themselves. And they can build each other up so easily.

Of course, it means a lot when girls caption a Instagram post full of loving words for a friend, write a blog post about them, or call on a hard day. Taking time out of your day just to focus on one person is a great thing. But the little ways you show your female friends you love them is great too. I have a friend that starts all our group chats with “Ladies”. Not a big deal right? It's just one word. But it's one word that instantly creates a bond, and shows that she isn't going to be the petty girl that drags another girl down.

Compliment the person next to you in line. Tell the old lady in church how nice her singing voice is. Write a letter to a friend full of the things you love about her, or text her when she seems to be having a good day.

Girls can drag each other down more easily than anyone else in the world. But they can also empower each other, can bring each other up.

oh and by the way, typos are a lovely thing aren't they? Reading over my blogger bio I feel the need to state that I'm not on any shows, I'm in shows. Kinda different things.

The Big Thing

The other day I went to a park with my drama class to practice our skits. We walked through town wearing feather boas and tutus to the park.

The park is in the middle, and a lot of homeless people live there. When we started to practice there were no people around the stage. Halfway through the first act I turned around and saw people sitting in the back of the audience watching. At the end of the first act a man walked over from the library. As the next act started people people started to applaud and a group of kids walked over.

And when we were done everything went back to normal.

Fame would be great. No fame but a leading role on Broadway would be great. But I think using the theater to help people, if only for a moment would be better.

For me, the best part of after a show is not the praise, but the people who come up to me and tell me that I've made them cry/laugh. Not because I think that means my acting was good enough to make them cry/laugh, but because I know that our play took them out of the real world.

Being pulled out of reality and into a play is the best feeling in the world.

Small Things

     Big things make a big impact. Everyone knows that. But it's less known that small things can make or brake your day.
     Yesterday I had my birthday party, and I received some very special cards. I loved them all, and they all mean so much to me. But there was one card that wasn't very long, just once sentence. I loved it, but reread the big letters that made such a huge impact on me over and over again. Then I looked at the small letter again and saw something that I hadn't seen before. It was signed " In most sincere love".
     The long letters mean so, so, so much to me. But the short letter means just as much because of the tiny touch my friend added to the bottom of the letter.
     Sadly it can also be tiny bad things that can ruin someone's day. This is so hard for me, because if everything is going right and it's a good day, I still can be brought down by a stranger yelling in the parking lot or someone scowling at a kid.
     People underestimate the power of small things. Hundreds and hundreds of times I've frowned at someone, or sighed at a bad time without really thinking about it. But just one frown can bring down someone's day. And a smile can lift them up.
     So try smiling at the elderly lady in Walmart. Help the kid in the library grab his book from the top shelf. Tell the artist you've never met before that his painting is beautiful. Tell the self-conscious teenage girl in McDonalds that she looks amazing in blue.
     Tell your best friend that she has a great sense of style. Tell your brother that you've never seen better handwriting.
     I'm not going to pretend for a moment that I'm any good at the good small stuff, but I want to try harder. Hopefully other people will too.

Two Years Old

On the 4th I turned 16 and this blog turned 2!!!! I'm hopefully going to post more in the next few months with the holidays and all, but sorry for the lack of posts this past year!

Another Random Theater Post

It's a really stupid idea to want to be an actress.

But I'm going for it anyway.

No, I might not make it. I might end up working at Walmart instead. But if I get one role on Broadway, or Off Broadway, or really any big theater, it will be worth it.

I love theater more than anything else I do. The feeling of being on the stage is something that is totally different than anything else I've ever experienced, and it's amazing.

Theater can change someone's life, even if they aren't on the stage themselves. Someone might be sitting in that audience at the beginning of the play with a heavy heart and not knowing what to do in their lives, but by the end of the play they can let go of whatever is in their mind weighting them down.

If I can change one persons life by a role, it's worth all the pain and the work, because I think that's what theater is supposed to do. It's supposed to help people.

So yeah, it's a stupid, stupid idea. But I don't really care.