I'm not going to sit here and write out a long eulogy about how Gene Wilder defined my childhood, how I'll never be the same again, etc. etc. Because that's not true. Sure, I liked Gene Wilder. I loved Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but the fact of the matter is, I grew up with the Johnny Depp version. I don't have this deep connection with Gene Wilder like people who are older than me do.
But I can appreciate his craft. Gene Wilder: master actor. Absolutely brilliant. The world truly has lost a wonderful person. And while I may not know very much about Gene Wilder, I can still appreciate the movies I have seen him in. I can still feel his loss. I can express sorrow and sympathy because it's not fair that these people who have defined our lives are taken from us. Sure, he was 83, so obviously he lived a good, long, full life, but that doesn't make it any easier to let him go. I can't sit here and list all of Gene Wilder's accomplishments. I can't even really name any movies aside from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Young Frankenstein. But I still think that he deserves a tribute on my page. Call it a fellow-actor-to-fellow-actor thing, but it felt important. Gene Wilder has left a mark on many people, and he deserves to be honored and remembered. "If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it. Wanna change the world, there's nothing to it." "When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't I understand the assignment, and I told them that they didn't understand life." ~John Lennon
Through much of my life, I've been told that my view of the world is innocent. Sweet. Naive. I've been told "I would love to see the world through your eyes." Well, I think that's awful. To go through life, only ever seeing the bad, never seeing the good. I couldn't live like that. Why would I want to? Why would you want to? You call me naive, hopeless, that I'll never make it in the real world. I call BS. Why is my view of the world wrong? It's not. Sure, it is hopeful because I've grown up hopeful. I choose to see love instead of hate. I choose to spread kindness instead of cruelty. I choose to eat cake rather than broccoli. I choose to live my life in a happy, healthy way. And it's not like all of these happy and positive thoughts come to me naturally. I've had to work at it. I look outside the window on a rainy day, and instead of thinking "ugh, rain," I think, "soft sounds, warm socks, all day to read." I look on the news and see all of the awful stuff going on, and I know that it's awful. I don't deny it and I don't ignore it. I simply think that it will get better. I hope that it will get better. The world is such an awful place already, why would you want to make it worse? I've been told that magic isn't real. And it's not, at least not the Harry Potter-type magic that everyone thinks I'm talking about. There is magic in this world, and believe me, if there wasn't, you wouldn't want to be living in this world. I've often thought to myself that if there was no such thing as magic, the world would be an awful place. True, it already is, but with the hope of magic, it makes living a lot easier. I'm going to go through life looking on the bright side. I'm an optimist. I'm a hopeful. I'm a romantic. And I'm also a teenager who deals with some serious stuff, both globally and personally. I simply choose to see the rose rather than the thorns. It's not childish. It's believing in a better tomorrow. It's believing in a better world, one that I choose to see. 1. "Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!" ~Dr. Seuss. (Translation: Be who you are because you're amazing and there is no one else like you. Don't change because someone wants you to.)
2. "Only the weak-minded refuse to be influenced by poetry and literature." ~Cassandra Clare (Translation: Read! Even if it's not assigned, reading does so many wonderful things for you, such as expanding your vocabulary and giving life lessons. Don't not read just because you don't have to.) 3. "Just keep swimming!" ~Dory, Finding Nemo (Translation: High school is hard and freshman year sucks especially. Don't let people get you down!) 4. "Is fat really the worst thing a human can be? Is fat worse than vindictive, jealous, shallow, vain, boring, evil, or cruel? Not to me." ~J.K. Rowling (Translation: Do not worry about your body. There are so many worse things to be. Be kind to everyone, no matter what. P.S. If someone is making fun of you for your body, drop them immediately and go eat cake.) 5. "You're never too old to be young." ~Walt Disney (Translation: Just because you're in high school doesn't mean you have to give up the stuff that you love. If you want to dress up as a princess or a pirate, do it, whether it's Halloween or not.) "Forever is composed of nows" -Emily Dickinson
In life, we are told to live in the moment. Slow down and smell the roses. Etc, etc. My problem? I physically can't. Believe me, I try. And while forever may be composed of nows, I'm always looking for the next. Today was the last day of the play I was in. I should've been enjoying it, saying goodbye to the cast members I'd gotten close to and relishing my time in the spotlight. But all I could think about was school the next day and what I was going to wear. And if not that, then I was thinking about the next book I'm going to read. Or what college I'll attend. Or where I'll live where I'm twenty-two. I can't focus on the moment. I'll go to the movies and while I'm sitting in the theater, I'll start thinking about the next movie I want to see or what I'll tell my friends and family I think about it. It's like I can't live in the moment. Stop and smell the roses? I would love to. But I can't. I'm told I'll miss high school when I'm older, and I suppose I will, but that doesn't stop me from looking forward to when I can get out. I feel like I was born to move. To travel. To do something. I can't live in the moment because I'm thinking of what I'll do someday. And I suppose that until I do it, I'll always be looking for the next. Next day, next week, next month. Next minute, next second, next moment. Next breath. Next, next, next. Seven billion people experienced this day in a different way.
For me, I woke up at 6:30 am to babysit my cousin. I played board games. I made sock puppets. I sewed two t-shirt pillows. I had two glasses of chocolate milk for breakfast, pizza bagels for lunch, and Subway for supper. I wore a t-shirt and shorts with anchors on them. I was in a play. I prayed. I laughed. I had fun today. For other people, the day was different. Someone was born today, someone had a child. Someone got married, someone got divorced. Someone got their license, someone didn't. Someone went to the movies or the bowling alley or a mini golf course. Someone became rich, while someone lost everything. Someone saw their family. Someone swore off of meat while someone else tried meat for the first time. Someone had their first drink. Someone was sick. Someone saw the world for the first time. Someone heard music for the first time. Someone sang and danced. Someone wore a dress. Someone went to Rome, and someone went home. Someone saved someone's life, while someone else took someone's. Someone died today. Someone lost someone today. Someone was brave. Someone was scared. Someone was happy. Someone wasn't. Someone is sleeping, and someone is waking up. Someone lived today. There are several billion different ways to experience the day. How did you spend yours? |
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Musical fanatic Lover of books and all things cake-related Archives
April 2018
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