The Real World

Negativity.

It threatens to engulf our minds. It is present when you turn on the television. Open up a book. Pick up the telephone.

We've trained our minds to predict bad news. Yet the bad news still ruins our days and the good news never shocks us. We resent good news. It is never enough for us. A teacher will never email your parents to tell them you are an individual with good character. They will email your parents because your fourth marking period average has taken a dip.

We live in a society where a polite person is met with raised eyebrows. But we can't stop talking about the lady who was rude to us at work today. No matter how many have been kind, the ones who have been less than it always make a bigger impression on us.

Do you ever want to scream "That does not make me any less of a person!"?

As teenagers, it often seems like the only thing we can is tear down the nice people we used to be when we were young. People automatically assume the worse. We will never be able to build character until we are at least 23 years old.  Our years are shrouded with negativity and judgement. Yet the answer is always "Kids these days!". Well, guess what? The adults built the world that teenagers live in today. The mistrust of adults is the reason I can't go into a boutique without the owners watching me like a hawk. Because I'm in high school, I'm deemed untrustworthy. As arrogant. As spoiled. 

"You don't know what the real world is like".

What the heck is the real world? Is it one full of prejudice and dishonesty? Is it a selfish one? If the real world is like the atrocities and the hate I hear about on the news, I do not like the real world. We are told the sky is our limit when we are in elementary school, but then people look at us like we are crazy when we are in high school for admitting the things we dream of.

Why is the cutoff age for dreams ten years old?

I am not stupid. I am not immature. I am not a child. I am not an adult. I am my own person. My mistakes do not define me. My brightest moments do. The things that make me smile define me. The things that make me feel alive define me. Because you know what? I listen to classical music. And dance music. 

My real world is my world. The way I see it. What I do in it. Plain and simple.

Yours the ever dramatic,

-Hamna

Silver Linings

Contrasts and ironies never cease to amaze me.

It is incredible to me how the wealthiest parts of a city are only steps away from the roughest parts. The way people write "Save Trees!" on sheets of paper that were made by cutting down trees. When college dropouts are the guest speakers at college graduations...

I can't even...

It also amazes me how one person's happiness means another's sadness.

As I watched the LA Kings (You had to know this was going towards hockey) win their series and shake hands with the San Jose Sharks, I realized that the center ice line separated two very different emotions. The LA Kings win meant that the San Jose Sharks would lose yet another playoff series. Their elation was heartbreak to the San Jose Sharks.

And it got me thinking...everything on this planet is bittersweet.

One person's acceptance into their safety schools is another person's rejection from their dream school. The success of one business often means the failure of another. Every year added onto your life is another one closer to death.

There is a negative side to everything.

But there is also a silver lining.

And I suppose the silver lining is what we live for. 

High School sucks 80% of the time. The other 20% rocks.

Hard work is hard, but we do anyway because we are working towards something. We may not know what it is, but we know there is something. And the second there is nothing, you know you are in trouble.

We live for recognition. We live to have something to look forward to because according to Anne Shirley, that's half the fun.  We live to work.

The silver lining is a human being's purpose on this planet. Because without that purpose, we are lost boats at sea.

Everyone grows up wanting their purpose to be changing the world. But how? What can we do that someone else has not done? What makes extraordinary? When do we figure it out?

It's why we connect to books and literature. We love The Fault in Our Stars because they may be a hot mess, but Augustus and Hazel have it figured out. They have the infinity they crave. The deeper level of understanding they have for life. And themselves.

Do you ever wonder if the people around are deeper than they appear? Do you ever really know your peers? What drives them to do what they do and want what they want? What makes them cry? Or laugh? What gives them goosebumps? Who are they? And what do they think of who you are?

We want to be the ones with the quotes that people recite for generations. The ones that everyone will remember. But we must hurt people to do so...And that's the hard part.

What makes a human extraordinary? What makes our thoughts and voices worthy of being immortal?

That's a lot of questions on my part.

-Hamna