Two Sides

The problem with the world, and also one of it's greatest virtues, is that everyone is different. If everyone was the same, it would be bad and uninteresting, everyone knows that. But there are problems with being different too, because it creates problems.

Along with every story, there are many sides, but none of them are right. Everything is just misunderstanding. You think your right, but the other person thinks they are right. When you hear out the other persons side of the story, you can understand their point, but it makes you sound bad, so you usually dismiss it, because you believe yourself more than other people.But really, can you trust yourself? You don't know how other people are feeling.

This is one giant game that the world is playing with you, a game of perspective. You see some things, other people see something else. Nobody can win, nobody can lose. Unless, that is, you decide to tie. The only way to solve things is by both people admitting they were wrong. That doesn't happen a lot of the time, because who wants to be wrong? But hopefully if you admit that your wrong, the other person will too. If not, well, you've been the bigger person, so you've truly won.

Throwing Caution

"We are afraid of things we do not know, just because we do not know them." -Linda Sue Park A Single Shard

As a whole, we human beings are very quick to stereotype. We tend to assume things before we need to, which leads us to go into new things with a less than positive attitude. One lesson we all need to learn is that new doesn't necessarily mean bad, it only means unfamiliar. You need to get used to something before you judge it, don't judge a book by its cover. I'm not saying throw caution into the wind and go skipping into every new thing without a second thought, but you can throw caution around a little bit, as long as it is always within your grasp.

Shoe Steps

It's something everyone tries to do, walk in somebody else's shoes. See from somebody else's point of view. It solves all your problems!, everybody thinks. Really though, thinking in someone else's shoes isn't quite different than actually walking in someone else's shoes. For those times you're going to do something quick, like grab something out of the car or turn of the garage light, and all you really need is something to cover your feet, you usually slip on the first shoes you see. They usually aren't your own, your mothers sneakers, your dads business shoes, or your little sisters boots. And when you put them on and are walking, maybe for only a few steps, it feels odd, different than what you are used to. They are too big or too small, and you have to walk extra slow to make sure you don't trip over your own two feet. It is like this when you look at somebody else's perspective. The world is shaken. It's dizzying. Suddenly, all the times something looked not as pleasant from other shoes beside your own come back to mind. You have to walk slower so you don't trip over your own two feet. But, your never quite sure if you are actually walking in someone else's shoes either, because people are different than what they seem. Is it better to stick to your own shoes? Maybe so.

Picture via Flickr

The Spontaneous Combustion of the Anticipation

The first days of school when I were little were almost magical. You'd be so excited with your brand new school supplies. Squeaky new pencils, crayons with sharp tips, shiny new notebooks, it was like an exciting world of replenishments. It seemed as if the school year would be filled with perpetual happiness. The magic always wore away, but I never minded much because I never minded school, I was an eager learner. But this year for reasons unknown (to even me) school didn't start like this. I started with boredom. The day that was supposed to be a new start, a new beginning was monotonous, irksome, like any Tuesday out of the middle of March, or some time like that. It wasn't like the first day of school! What happened to the excitement??? What happened to all the anticipation??? I don't know, it probably fell in a black hole or got flushed down a toilet or spontaneously combusted on the way to my house. Just my luck. Not even the next weeks brought me any remote feeling of beginning of the year-ness. It was this year I needed the anticipation the most. I was overwhelmed in the monotonous, befuddling world all the end of last year and the feeling never really went away in the summer so I needed change to shake me up a bit and put me down with a whole new perspective. I guess this wasn't the change I was looking for. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Summertime

Its almost here! We are home free!! We can see it and taste it, but we still have 3 days. And of course our teachers still work us hard. But that shouldn't spoil it for us! Summer is almost here! Summer is not just a break from school, it is two months of freedom. Summer stands for not just vacation but for time for us to live as we want, without our teachers, homework, and tests getting in the way. People who look forward to summer from the first day of school aren't learning-haters, they are just freedom lovers. In the summer you are free to do as you like with no cares! You can play and run and jump and laugh, and you won't get hushed! Kids are very controlled, and I know it is for the better, but they still need time to decide what to do themselves. Summer offers freedom, and that is why everyone loves it.

More Than an Author

I walk through the high, waving grasses of the Kansas grasses. There is no sign of human life, just the earth and me. The birds are chirping in the scarce trees, and the wind is blowing to the west, a sign the world wants us to move. I turn back to the covered wagon to see my family as well as Laura's waving me over. We are preparing continue our journey to unknown western lands.

Laura Ingalls Wilder is an author with a gift, she can make dreams. She has created dreams like that for kids all around the world... including me. Her writing has a magic draw for people with imaginations. Perhaps it is the way she makes the prarie of long ago come to life again. Maybe it is her details, that lets you feel as if you are there. Or maybe it is how she makes her characters feel like friends. Whatever it is, it makes her stories some of the best in the world.

Most people these days don't live on open praries. We live in towns clouded by buildings, cars,

and machines. We have many good things Laura didn't have, but we are missing a lot too. She creates a mysterious pictire to us, miles of miles of untouched land. Her stories have helped me to learn to appreciate all the untouched land that we stll have. She has inspired at least me to love and protect nature. Everyone who reads her books wishes at least once that they could live as she did.

Yet another reason Laura's books are so popular is her unique style of storytelling. Everything she is writing about is so vivid to her, so she can make it vivid to us. Don't call me crazy, but people agree, her books are often better than television. She gives tons of discriptions, but still leaves scope for imagination (as another famous character would say.) I've watched many T.V. adaptations of her books, but none are as good as the real books. No one can capture her memories as well as she can. She is a naturally good writer, but she is her secret to stand out in the croud. Her descriptions and her attention to detail make her one of the best storytellers of all time.

The most compelling reason, to me, that her books are such a success are her characters, these were real people and she can use words to bring them alive again. I have great friends and family, but sometimes you need to go away. Laura's family have always been there for me. I know I can always rely on Pa's fiddle music, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Grace's cheerful play, and Ma's helpful advice to clean my soul. Pretty soon I am ready to go bak to my world with a pleasant attitude. They all have became very real to me. They have always been there, and they always will. I can count on them.

Laura Ingalls Wilder is more than an author. She is a wizard of storycrafting. From simple words she can create emotions almost as real as the true things. She has a way of telling stories no one else will ever be able to capture. I love most books I read, but the Little House books have always stood out. Plain out simple, her books as, well as she, are amazing, and I hope people recognize it.