QUOTE OF THE WEEK

originally uploaded by mermmaid.

"We are grown but cannot see,
lost our world of make believe.
Simple times now seem so far,
used to be in my backyard.
Yeah, the world was still in my backyard."
-Joshua Radin, WE ARE OKAY

When I was reviewing the messages from you all in response to our post Growing Up Too Soon, this song came on my playlist. Though I have heard this entire album a zillion times (Joshua Radin is one of my favorites), the lyrics took on a whole other level of meaning, and I decided it was as a sign to post as our Quote of the Week.

For those of us that have shouldered responsibility that exceeds what is thought of as normal for teens, a lot of us have lost our world of make believe. We are forced to look beyond our high school life to challenges that grown ups face. We have seen the heartbreak of the world, and the sadness and hard times that go on inside the closed front doors of our homes.

Even for those of us who haven't had to deal with a family responsibility, a lot of us feel like reality is forcing us to leave our world of make believe behind. I don't mean playing with dolls or believing in fairies, I am thinking of adult pressures that are being put on us before we have really had a chance to enjoy being teens. This comes in many ways...

One girl is dealing with the pressure of wanting to go to a great college she got into, but the unbelievable stress of not being able to pay for it. She works a job before and after school to save the money and is constantly exhausted. Another girl started dating a guy she had a crush on for forever, and she just wants to kiss and he wants to go all the way. Yet another girl goes home nearly every night to mediate her parent's horrible arguments that she shouldn't even know about in the first place. These girls all think about when they were younger, and could just live in the moment and be content with life. Just like this awesome picture above, we wish that we could reverse the clock to a more simple time of happy memories. Do you every wish you could go back to those times?

I think all of us deserve to get a space in the backyard of our minds where we can feel this way again. I go to my safe place, for example, as I am writing to all of you. When I get your responses that remind me you are out there and what I am writing resonates with you, it reminds me that having this site is worth it. 

I challenge each of you to find that place in your mind that brings you back to that little piece of happiness, regardless of where life has taken you now. As we all take steps to remember that we deserve that, then I know, we are all indeed going to be okay.


Click here and then click WE ARE OKAY on the list to hear this song.