Fly Down To Mexico

After reading both Hayley and PJ's blogs about fourteen-year-old selves, I thought about how I was at age fourteen.

Then I remembered: we don't talk about that. And by we, I mean I. And by talk I mean think.

Fourteen was no fun, I'll tell you that much. For some weird reason, I was completely and utterly depressed, to the point where I turned to things that weren't generally good for me (or legal, I might add) to get away from the world around me. I started hanging out with the wrong people, hoping they could help me escape my mind, but I was just a sad little teenager.

Thank God for Garden State. And I'm completely serious. That movie - mostly the soundtrack - changed my life. I remember the day perfectly:

I didn't have a 2nd period class, and I was sitting against one of the big gray cement pillars on the outskirts of the quad at Foothill Technology High School. I was on the grass. I remember it being quite a nice day, and the grass seeming to be more green than usual. I was listening to my CD player (old school, I know) and had just put in the Garden State soundtrack. The very first song on the album is "Don't Panic" by Coldplay.

"We live in a beautiful world,

Yeah we do, yeah we do

We live in a beautiful world"

And it hit me like a ton of effing bricks. BE HAPPY YOU IDIOT. I looked around, felt the sun on my skin, felt warm inside for the first time in a long time...and smiled. I remember smiling.

The bell rang just as this happened, and I watched the entirety of the school walk out of classes all around me, the whole time only hearing this song. Everything was in slow motion, as though I was discovering my sight for the first time. I felt new. And best of all, happy.

From that point on, I have been an extremely optimistic person, always cheering up others, doing my best to keep love and happiness alive in the hearts of everyone around me. Anyone who is friends with me knows this. Even those who are no longer my friends or never even considered me a friend to begin with. Whether it be a car ride to a safe place or a present for no reason to put a smile on your face, I'm always there for the people I care about. I never want anyone to be in the place that my fourteen-year-old self was in once upon a time.

Song of the Day: "Don't Panic" by Coldplay

Film of the Day: Garden State (2004)

PS - If anyone wants me to make them a mix CD, let me know. I feel like I can communicate with people through music better than most anything else, and I like spreading good music around.

:]

Later days.