On Choices

I've recently watched a movie called Choose. The movie is basically about a grad student and her detective father tracking down a serial killer who makes his victims choose between two equally horrific fates, specific to the victim. The grad student, Fiona, helps with the case, because she fears the killer had something to do with her mother's suicide. Although the movie leaves you slightly baffled at the end and questioning the rationality of some of the characters thinking process, it brings up the interesting question: Would you rather?

If you've never played the somewhat twisted game, Would You Rather, with your friends, it's basically asking your friend a question of whether they'd want to do one thing or the other, both choices being equally gross, crude, scary, embarrassing, etc. Example: Would you rather...go blind or deaf? 

Its a seemingly innocent game, but in the movie Choose, they played the game for real. It's interesting, because the choices we make, no matter how little they are, define us, as they stated in the movie. Everyday choices, like choosing not to raise your hand in class when you know the answer to a question may allude to your timidity and insecurity of maybe being wrong and maybe a low self-esteem. Or choosing not to stand up for someone whose being bullied right in front of you. That may also be a sign of insecurity or a fear of being ostracized for standing up for others and saying what you think. An irrational fear, of course.
Those types of decisions build our character and may be just glimpses of the person we'll be in the future. So, on that note, always make sure you make the right choice and don't have any regrets in making your choices. What if you didn't raise your hand and ended up being right? You'd immediately regret not raising your hand. Or what if you didn't stand up for the kid getting bullied right in front of you and they ended up making a choice with serious consequences? You'd blame yourself for the rest of your life.
 So, people, be wise and make the right choice. 

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” Eleanor Roosevelt

 Have a Good Memorial Day :)

On Independence

Some people may think that they gain their independence once they get their car or get their first job or move out of their parent's house and start to pay their bills, but I think people gain their independence little by little with all the small things that happen. Sure, when you get your first car or job or both, that's a big chunk of independence, but it's the small, seemingly insignificant things that help you form yourself and determine what kind of independent person you will be. For example, learning how to walk, learning how to eat by yourself, learning how to talk, or clean your room, do your laundry, make your bed every morning, doing chores without your parents having to tell you to. Small things like that. Independence doesn't come all at once, because if it did we wouldn't be able to handle it. We'd be afraid and depend on our parents to take care of us for the rest of our lives. All throughout our lives we're gaining pieces of our independence and hopefully, by the end, we'll have the whole thing.
The reason I bring this up is because now that I've entered a new chapter in my life, I've become to realize I won't always have my parents holding a safety net below me just in case I fall, some times I'll have to catch myself.
The problem with kids my age is that they don't realize exactly that. Someday, somehow, they will have to look out for themselves, watch their own backs. Although it does sound a bit intimidating, its the truth. Some times, hearing my peers talk amongst themselves, it frightens me, because of their naivete, thinking that they'll always have their mom or dad spoon feeding them every step of the way, through high school, through college, then right through their careers and maybe some of them will have that, but others won't.
I know kids everywhere in the United States strive for that one thing. To escape the protective nest of their parents home and get out as quickly and as young as they possibly can. Some teens have a valid reason for wanting to do that, whether it a be an abusive home or living in poverty and wanting to live a good life, but we all want the same thing. Freedom.
So, before I finish, I'll give all of you a piece of advice: take your life seriously, don't let it fly by and the next thing you know you're flipping hamburgers in McDonald's or whatever cliche fast-food restaurant you prefer. LIVE your life to fullest. Though that phrase is worn out and doesn't mean anything everyone's said it so much, I mean it now. Be young and have fun, but also realize that one day you'll have to grow up, you'll have to get a job, you'll have to pay the rent, pay the bills and become the adult that your parents raised you to be. Not to discourage you or any thing. I'm just saying--be realistic in viewing your life. You still have a long way to go before you die, might as well play the game right. Right?

On Bloggers

I always thought that bloggers were guys in their mid-thirties living in their mothers basements secretly writing about non-existent lives and luring people into their pervert-y traps, and maybe they are--but now that I'm a blogger and I'm the complete opposite of my misconception, that may not be true.
Then, after my previous opinion on bloggers was disproved by the movie Julie and Julia, I started to believe bloggers were women who had nothing better to do with their day then tell about their exciting trips to the nearest Starbucks or how their love lives have taken a recent nose-dive and they just had to tell anyone who was bored enough to listen. After that fiasco, I finally didn't really think about bloggers much. I knew about Vloggers on YouTube and such and actually quite enjoy hearing their monologues on issues they disagreed or agreed with. Vloggers fascinate me, but I knew I would never start a video blog, because honestly, people are cruel on YouTube. YouTube is a place where the socially inept gather and take a video, song, or whatever else you can find on YouTube and start to viciously tear it apart with their crude, smart-alec, pointless or otherwise discouraging comments. I've watched, over the course of a few years, how those people monopolize the videos, stripping them down until all there was left was a bunch of ignorant opinions. I mean, there are people on YouTube that are alright, but they are a minority. Honestly, I applaud the people who disable the comments.
Anyways, YouTube wasn't going to be a place where I put videos of myself up.
Finally, my mother was the one who suggested I start a blog.
Like hundreds of others before me, I am an aspiring writer. Someday I wish to travel the world on book tours and own various homes around the globe and basically live life as a reclusive author and spend time with family. My mother said it would be practice for my writing and it would get people's attention. We'll see.
So, I guess I have to tell you--whoever you are--about myself. But I'm not the type of person to go on forever describing hair color and the intricacies of my Day to the Mall. I like to discuss real things, like YouTube for example, although that is not all I have to say about the topic. Don't get me wrong, I love YouTube, just not the people on it. If you have a channel on YouTube and are a frequent commentator, sorry if I have offended, but it's the truth and this isn't going to be a blog where I sugar coat real life and make people feel cozy warm and safe and say all the right things. When did anyone accomplish anything without having to say the things others were too afraid to admit? So, if I ever say some thing that feels like a slap to the face, then...go away, I guess? Stop reading? If you like some one who paints rainbows and tells about their Unicorn farm, then you have come to the wrong place. I promise, I will be real and tell the truth. This is my voice and I have the Freedom of Speech. Get used to it.