New beginnings

So, today I was reminded that I have a voice and sometimes I'm the only one that is willing to speak up and say what others are feeling but can't put into words. My professor asked me if I had ever considered becoming a writer. I laughed a little because I had honestly never thought of writing much of anything before. I mean, look at my blog, I can't even finish a blog.
My profesor also asked if I had a blog, he said if I did he would read it. So, here we go. Maybe this time is my for real, like my for really reals beginning to my blog. I won't lie and say that I don't want to be a writer that people enjoy reading. I want to give people what other authors/writers have given to me.
I've been in a young adult lit. class this past semester and it's made me appreciate my teenage years, question them, wonder about them. Reading these books I'm reminded of the person I wish I could have been. I finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower this past week and I loved it. We got into a discussion that sparked this entire train of thoughts about becoming a writer and having blogs and going back for my English degree. Anyway, one woman in my class said that the book was not a good book becuase it painted drinking, smoking weed, and partying in a non-harmful way. She also mentioned about she just wanted one scene that was real, that showed a drunk driving accident, that painted Charlie as not a straight A tudent when he smoked pot and drank and was out late all night, that the depictions in the book were not reality. In all actuality, the stuff Charlie and his friends were doing are things that kids in high school are doing today. You can smoke pot and get straight A's. Do I recommend it? No. You don't need drugs or alcohol to get things done. It just takes discipline and dilligence and drugs and alcohol are a scape goat. That being said, I spoke up and brought up several scenes from the book where parties turned bad, drinking hurt people, and Charlie himself said that he should stop smoking pot.
Books don't make people smoke or drink. People make people smoke or drink. There is a quote by Aristotle that I love and in reading "Wallflower" a line from Bill to Charlie reminded me of it. The quote reads "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." and Bill tells Charlie to be a filter, not a sponge. I think people don't give youths the benefit of the doubt to be able to think for themselves and make sound decisions. Do they need guidance? Yes, absolutely. They need to be taught from an early age about respect and what is right and wrong, however, we can not hover over them and try to make them make the right choices. Have trust in them to make the right choices but be there to help them find their way back if they don't and to help them learn and move on from whatever happens.
I run all over the place when I write and I really should have more of a plan when I come into these things. Hopefully over time things will even out. Here's to really sticking to something.