Turning 16 and getting too Old

Man, it's about to be my birthday, and although I'm only turning 16, I've realized I'm getting too old for some aspects of the Birthday Experience. Here are a few-

1. The Inflatable Bouncy Houses. (This has varing degrees of truth because 1. I don't think I ever got one, and 2. If no one was around and there just happened to be a bouncy house, I would re-enact the moon landing.)

2. The Birthday Cards with Cash. ( I didn't know you could outgrow this, but apparently you can because my 16th Birthday card came early this year and that's exactly what it was- a card. Just a card. Am I the terrible person for speaking this or do other people feel this way?)

3. The Classic Playdate/Slumber Party/Birthday Party. ( You know this one. It's when you invited over like 6 friends via Birthday Invitation. You know your parents were miserable and hated like half of them. You guys watched movies. Girls painted nails. Boys... yea, I don't know what boys did. Birthday cake with everyone singing and your parents ALWAYS ordered pizza for dinner.)

4. The Getting to be Friggin-Super-Christmas-Just-for-Me-Excited. ( Yep. Back when everyone in your family heard the countdown every day for two weeks before hand. When you had the list of what you wanted because everyone asked you. Now please keep your cool and be nonchalant. The day of, when wished a happy birthday, act almost surprised, like you could've forgot. "Oh, it's my birthday today isn't it? Well thank-you!"

Eh, you win some and you lose some. Either way, I'm excited.

Unlocking the Dream Drawer; Thanks Peter Pan,

The original Peter Pan book is magical.

 

 If you have never read it, I suggest you pick it up; I promise you the content isn't kiddie stuff. The author James M. Barrie's twisted backstory gives the whole book a very ghostly tone. Reading it, I think only adults can fully appreciate the wonder of a child's imagination. It's set in a world we all knew once. Where we could fly. Where we could do anything with a little fairy dust. Where we would never grow up. It was quick-witted kids who only cared of freedom versus imbecile grown-ups who only cared of gold. And it was the children, with scuffed up knees, tattered shadows, and dirty faces that always went home victorious.

 

When the book begins, Mrs. Darling comes and tucks her three children into bed, and like any mother would, promptly "tidies up their minds". She puts unsorted thoughts in their places and dusts. And when that is done, Mrs. Darling watches her children's dancing Hopes and Dreams.

 

Adults have Hopes and Dreams too. But as you get older, you have less room in your mind for them. So you put them away in a drawer. Adults don't think about their hopes and dreams very often, but sometimes they can open the drawer and dance with them. But it gets harder and harder to put the dreams away and close the drawer. It is too hard for some grown-ups, so they close the drawer and lock it and they do not open it again.

 

I never want to shut away my hopes and dreams. I never want to give up on them. In Peter Pan, the only difference between children and grown-ups was believing. I will always believe in myself, because once you give up on a dream you can be sure it won't happen. So here are a few of my dreams from my own Hopes and Dreams drawer in no particular order. Oh, and this is if pay and experience didn't matter.

 

1. An Astronaunt

2. A Singer

3. A hard-hitting Journalist

4. A News Anchor

5. A Stay-at-Home...Person

6. A Novelist

7. A Blogger (for a living!)

8. An Artist

9. A Teacher

10. A Psychologist

11. A Cosmotologist

12. An Actor

13. An Interior-Designer

 

Now I'm not saying my plan is to do a few of these for a living, but never put something great past yourself. We have our whole lives ahead of us and if you know where you're going to be twenty years from now, you are a boring person! Just remember turning 18 doesn't have to mean putting childish things aside. Hold onto those crazy dreams your half-chasing, because if being an adult means locking your Dream Drawer, I'll never grow up.

 

Thanks for Reading. What's your craziest aspiration?

 

xoxo- Shayna

 

 

The Act of Reading while not Reading- Post I

I was a fool last May when I picked my schedule. I was out of cheerleading and had extra time. Right? I figured it was time for me to focus on school. I ignored the fact being a Drum Major for the Band took as much time as cheerleading. I also ignored the fact my counselor seemed very on the fence about me taking two dual-credit classes at the same time. I could handle it. I was determined. I was excited. Again, I was a fool. Now, my check for extra time bounced. Instead of spending late nights watching Jimmy Kimmel and sneaking a late-night bowl of cereal, I try not to procrastinate and continue working on my Psychology chapter. I envy my brothers and sister laughing downstairs as I sit half-way reading my textbooks but not really reading. I have unintentionally become the master of reading but not comprehending. I would rather have the skill of learning while not thinking.