I’m seventeen. At seventeen, nobody’s normal, nobody understands, and everyone wants to break away, deshackle ourselves and shake off our chains and stand triumphant in the light. I want to know why. I believe in God, I have my invisible means of support, and He’s with me always. But some days I feel frozen. I feel dead, when all I want to do is matter. Think, think. Dig deep inside. I feel like the world’s standing still, and I’m just out of time. I have plenty left to give, and plenty to give it to. I need to carve out a place in this world. But this world doesn’t make it easy. After they teach you mommy and daddy in this world, they teach you fear. Don’t talk to strangers. Then they teach you to obey. They have drilled it into our heads that we can’t teach ourselves anything, and then expect us to want to learn. They make us believe we can’t show ourselves how to work the world; we have to be shown by others. As if they people running the world right now are doing much good. Not that we would be better, just that we may never KNOW. You have to stay in school, even if you aren’t learning what’s important. You can’t complain, because you complaining is a single human being complaining, and you won’t change anything by complaining. Okay, you say, that sucks. I’ll look for a course of action in the other big influence in my life- Hollywood. Great. That’ll probably have you stuck in your room trying to homemake napalm to torch your school and rage against the machine. Don’t do that. Okay, guy who thinks he has all the answers (and better have, or I’m wasting time) what do we do instead, huh? In my opinion, Hollywood will tell you to destroy, your friends will agree life can suck, which oddly helps, but I say- create. That’s the only way out, I promise. Make a name for yourself however you can, as fast as you can, and I know that’s fast. Sure, the odds are totally against you. Sure, if you bet big, you can lose big. But we all know that’s not going to happen to you. I can write, that’s what I’m going to do. My name will be on the news. I smile at the sky and whisper you can do it. If you can write, write now. Write for whoever you want. Make me proud. If you can act, act fast. Check out some of the breakout stars we have today. If you can sing, sing out. Taylor Swift, Joebros, Chris Bridges, hello? Go get it. Don’t be afraid to risk everything you are and everything you live for. They way we live, that’s nothing.