Taking Control

"You wait, little girl, on an empty stage, for fate to turn your light on."
For everyone who has ever seen "The Sound of Music," this phrase is from "Sixteen Going on Seventeen." Somehow, this implies that girls, women, or ladies are incapable of making things happen for them on their own. The rest of the song goes on to say that the girl needs a man/guy/significant other to help them on their path and journey in life. While it may be nice to have someone to do the heavy lifting, it isn't necessary to have someone of the male persuasion holding her hand the whole way. It's these mysoginistic undertones in songs we all know and love from eras of late that have, unfortunately, shaped current modern thinking regarding women in their own world. Have girls-turned-women of today forgotten how to think for themselves? Are women scared to go out into the world on their own, for fear of not being able to make it without a man?
I am of the opinion that mainstream culture has taught our generation's females to become dependent on men because men provide. Traditionally, men provided financial stability once a woman set out on her own, men provided a home, support, and occasionally, love. Our mothers were taught this, and while they tried to instill a feeling of independence in us, bless them, somehow, it didn't take as well as they'd hoped. Mothers of the baby boom generation lived through a huge Women's Lib movement, and wanted to continue that feeling and emotion in their daughters; namely, the girls of the MTV Generation. However, thanks to MTV and its subsidiaries, and countless dating shows, girls are still waiting for Mr. Right.
What is wrong with being on your own, living on your own, and being with Mr. Right now, if there absolutely has to be a man in the picture? I can't stress enough how liberating it can feel when a woman strikes out alone and is successful in her ventures, sans male. It's time women started taking control of their own lives, and began using their brains to live! Try it and you may see that the end result is that a) things get done faster and better, and b) you're happier. Ladies, it's okay to be single. It's okay to be on your own and independent. It's perfectly fine to have your own thoughts and opinions about varying topics. Frankly, it needs to be an everyday occurrence. Go ahead, break the "rules" that have been set forth by Lifetime movies, music videos, and romance novels. Women need to remember that FICTION IS NOT REALITY!

Bliss or an extremely short burst of happiness?

In regards to all the people I know getting married, are married, married with kids, or engaged, I just don't understand what is so darn exhilarating. You meet. You date. You move in. You fight, fight, fight, and fight some more. He (or she) proposes. She freaks out over wedding invitations and color schemes. He picks out a tux. They party. Hard. She finally walks down the aisle to the "love of her life." "I do. I do." Another trip down the aisle. They party. Harder. And off they go into the sunset.
Frankly, I don't get it. Once the diamond is on her finger, it's like a sparkler to the wedding day. And then, once the wedding and honeymoon's all said and done, monotony sets in. It's a day-to-day existence, and statistics show that nearly 1/2 of marriages fail, inevitably by some stupid reason like lawn chair furniture and coordinating the curtains with the toilet seat cover! This short burst of happiness is temporary, people. And, granted, there are couples who stay together for upwards of 50 years, but let's face it. By then, at least a third of them are only in it for the tax break. The rest might truly be in love, I'll give them that.
But when did they start just loving each other and fall out out of love (There is a difference)? Love, I suppose, can be happy. But isn't being "in love" the whole reason the two got married in the first place? Why risk falling out of love and letting the sparkler fizzle out, when they could be just as blissful merely committing to a monogamous relationship, without the pageantry of a wedding. For that matter, just get married in City Hall by a justice of the peace, save yourselves thousands of dollars, and put it towards retirement. Then, take the honeymoon if you've both made it to retirement together. Best of luck, folks. I won't be joining you.

Delightfully De-Lovely

There are two sides to every story.
My story could, perhaps, surpass such ideology.
I've lived a complicated life, thus far, what with my chosen separation from mainstream Johnson City culture. I reject all things orange and University of Tennessee-related. I'd rather eat dirt than go to a Titans game, and hilbillies make me sick.
Thankfully, my liberation from such a dwelling has allowed me to broaden my already wide thought process and accept what is true to be true.
There is a certain beauty to be found in the world outside of the one in which one grows up. A kind of wide-eyed wonder that can make the typical day of small-town Americana seem dismal and uneventful, which, undoubtedly, it already is. It just took a little excursion outside of the setting for one to realize it.
In the event of such an escape from middle-class-white-suburban-Americana one should expect to experience a delightful uplifting of spirits and an elimination of hazy and presupposed ideals.
I have, thankfully experienced such an liberation from my small town.
It's lovely out here in the world.