Raise it higher. Raise your hand as high as you can, and your courage higher. You deserve rights and equality. Raise that sign of hope, of courage, of strength, and don't ever put it down. Keep it up forever. Maybe someday they will realize it is not a sign of disrespect or dishonor. It is the exact opposite. It's for power. Power for our country to be as one. It is for respect. The respect that every human being deserves. Whether you're black, white, polynesian, asian, hispanic or indian. Whether you like girls or boys. Whether you're an athlete, nerd, musician...It doesn't matter. You, [insert YOUR name here], deserve respect. Respect your country, your people, your family, and your culture. Respect your freedom, because not everyone gets it. Raise your fist. Raise it high. For the rest of your life...keep it raised. 

This is for [insert YOUR name here]

Love.

Love is being surrounded by nothing but miles of salt water in the middle of the night.

Love is an unwritten song. 

Love is a black stain on your brand new pair of shoes. 

Love is the soft pedals on a rose.

Love is jumping on the tramp. 

Love is making someone feel awkward when you look in their eyes.

Love is the sarcasm in their voice. 

Love is why we are living.

Love is a sitting duck. 

Love is shooting a gun.

Love is the sound of a cricket during the night.

Love is falling off a horse.

Love is a football game. 

Love is the twinkle in your eye. 

Love is the knot in your hair.

Love is the elephant in the room.

Love is the heavy backpack you have to carry around. 

Love is your alarm that wakes you up in the morning. 

Love is wishing on a star.

Love is a poem.

Love is walking to your car in the middle of winter. 

Love is a constant heartburn. 

Love is... Love.

Kids. 

They seem so small, then I remember that was me. 

Running around at recess, coloring with crayons, digging for worms, and showing off to your childish crushes. 

My favorite thing as a kid was recess for sure. 

I remember I had to count to thirty until it was my turn to swing on the swings.

 I did that a lot. 

When a kid messes up, people just say it's because they're kids and don't know any better... 

I miss that. 

I wish I could just blame my mistakes on being a kid. 

I miss recess. 

I miss being a kid. 

The graduation from CRAYONS to colored pencils was a big change.

I can't imagine how big of a change the graduation from high school to college will be.

I remember having the big pack of CRAYONS with the sharpener on the back. I would keep them in perfect order and make sure I always had every single one. Now I can't even keep track of a single pencil. 

I miss my CRAYONS. I miss the waxy feeling I would get on my fingers after I colored. 

Everything is different now. When I pick up CRAYONS I'm reminded of the change. I'm reminded of the memories. 

I'm scared to graduate. I was scared to graduate to colored pencils too, but now I'm ready for the change. Thanks to my CRAYONS I've learned that good things come and go, but the memories will always stay with us.

Give me a topic to write about and I will come up with a million ideas.

Give me the freedom to write whatever I want and I can't think of anything. 

Dear diary,

there are times when life feels like too much to handle. 

Constantly making wrong decisions just keeps adding up. One bad 

thing after another makes it almost impossible. But I don't want 

to sounds like every other person anymore. I don't want to sound 

like the sad songs on the radio. I realize now that bad and 

tragic things happen to everyone. People die. We break down. We 

judge ourselves and others. We fall and stay down. Everyone makes 

mistakes. No one is the same. We have different interests, 

strengths, and weaknesses. But we all have this one thing in 

common...

 We are only human.

But that should not stop us from seeing 

happiness and love. 

When I fall I will stand. 

When it rains I will dance. 

When I make a wrong decision I will learn.

When I judge I will stop.

When I fail I will try.

When I'm hurt I will love.

That is my promise to myself. So diary, thank you for 

listening to a human with hope. 

Sincerely,

[insert YOUR name here]