QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Failure, originally uploaded by Diana Pinto.

"Don't forget to win first place 

Don't forget to keep that smile on your face." 

-Alanis Morissette, PERFECT

Pressure, pressure, pressure. How many of you feel it? I do. Sometimes it sufficates me from all around. In high school, I went through a (very long) phase where I listened to this song on repeat--when I woke up in the morning and brushed my teeth while reviewing flash cards for Spanish or in my headphones as I ran from drama-to-cheerleading-to-study hall-to-babysitting. It was the perfect soundtrack to the loop of worry "what if's" in my head.... What if I didn't make the grade and didn't get into just the right college? What if dad won't be proud of me anymore if a fail? What if I let my team down? What if my teachers think I am stupid? What if my sister thinks I suck? What if my boyfriend won't like me for not wanting to go beyond kissing? What if people don't like me?

We are taught to go through life with these thoughts of potential failure as the end all, be all of how to measure life's success. Don't get me wrong, some pressure is good, like the adrenal you get right before running at a track meet or going up in front of a crowd to give a speech. I am finally learning how to separate the good from the bad.

While most of us are taught to be incredibly afraid of failure, society tells us we need to grin through it. Some think that expressing fear is weakness. We at Girls in the Hall know that it is the exact opposite--a girl who is able to voice her fears is not only being honest with the world, but counts as one of the bravest. Just think, these fears are shared by many.

This photo was taken by a great teen photographer, who we found on flickr.com. Her caption is, " This is pretty much how I feel all the time. Wrote that on my hand yesterday in Latin class to remind myself of what I am. This isn't for attention, it's to express myself." When stumbling upon this while looking for Girls in the Hall photos, it reminded us that we are not alone and sparked this blog. Imagine if we could all talk about when we feel like this without society telling us to keep it bottled inside.


I love giving everything I start my best effort and I have now learned that it's ok to make some mistakes along the way. After all, mistakes are the pieces of a patchwork quilt that warm fear of failure away.