We Write for Fear of Silence

Sixteen things I learned before I turned Sixteen

1. You will not remember everything your grandfather tells you. You cannot remember everything.
2. pills will not make you forget what you're running from.
3. vodka can't burn away your pain.
4. if you ever have the opportunity to go stargazing on the roof of an abandoned warehouse, take it.
5. true love is not pain. Love isn't supposed to hurt.
6. Do not stop experiencing to take photos. It is not living if you spend your whole life behind a lens.
7. If you love someone, tell them. Unrequited love is better than love unrealized.
8. Pay attention to detail. Morning dew on daffodils and the color of your love's eyes are memories you will want later on.
9. Paint the sunset on the beach. Paint the first snowfall of the season in the forest. Paint blood when you are angry. Paint tears when you are sad.
10. Sometimes you will need to cry. And it will feel like the world is ending and rain is pouring down your windows. You will put your pieces back together again after.
11. When it feels like you are suffocating under the weight of the world sing down the moon. Sing down the stars too.
12. Watching your own blood swirl down the drain will not solve anything. Let your wounds heal.
13. Stop worrying about how your hair looks and go outside.
14. You don't need to have perfect grades to be intelligent or important. School isn't everything.
15. When you are holding your girlfriend's hand and she smiles at you and her eyes are radiant because she loves you, kiss her.
16. Hope is stronger than fear.