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.