“One day our generation is gonna rule the population, so we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change.” I swear, some of John Mayer’s songs might as well be called “national anthems”….
I’m sure you’ve heard so many people say to us “You guys are the new generation! You are all our future doctors, our future presidents, our future writers, our future reporters, our future geniuses!” millions and millions of times; we are the difference that needs to be made right, we are the words that need to be spoken, we are the pictures that need to be painted, we are the inventions that need to be discovered, and we are the lens that needs to be looked through. And with summer approaching it’s the perfect time of the year to start realizing all of the influence that we have on the world, all of the possible change that’s out there. Now to call summer a time of new beginnings…is an understatement, to say that it’s the best season ever created in the world…no, you could say that’s pretty accurate. I don’t know what it is about summer, maybe it’s the fact that you can actually step out of your house without risking your chances of contracting hypothermia; maybe it’s that warm sun shining down that just instantaneously puts you into a good mood; it could be those late summer nights when your with your friends doing absolutely nothing but really, those nights turn into some of the best memories that will be with you forever. For me, it’s that you have freedom. You have days upon days of doing whatever it is you please. You have countless nights to stay out late and endless days to spend at the beach…and while some see that summer freedom as just another three months of doing absolutely nothing, I see it in a totally different way.
Some people see change as something that should be brought to them, as a big red sign that will just hit them on the head when it’s ready to come to their way and work its magic. But me? I see summer as a time when you have to make a change yourself, and the world. It’s a full three months to make a difference in the world, to create something new, to listen to something that sings a new song to your ears, to see something new that cleanses your eyes and opens your vision, to be something new that gives you a new looking glass to see through in life. Creativity is all around us, we just have to find it for ourselves. For all you John Mayer fans out there, you’ve heard him singing about “waiting for the world to change” so what are you still waiting for? Go out and do something different, something that matters; something that makes a difference.
So these upcoming three months of pure bliss and freedom, while you’re out enjoying your summer, do something effective, donate to a charity, plant a tree, paint a picture, write a song, make a documentary, travel to new place that you can explore; even some of the smallest, simplest things can change the world. The world is your canvas…. so draw on it, scribble on it, paint on it, dance on it, run on it, record on it, write on it, speak on it, plant on it, make it more diverse. See the world through a new lens; whether you have to zoom in, or zoom out, that lens can show you a whole new visionary of the world, it can lead to a big difference, a difference that you can make. So, as my last article for the paper, this summer, I wish you great memories, I wish you peace, I wish you non-melted ices at Ralph’s, I wish you laughs that never end, I wish you new experiences, and most importantly, I wish you change.