30 Day Challenge - Day 13: A Guilty Pleasure

So, I said I was gonna keep up with this thing and then totally forgot for a month. Sorry!  But I do intend to keep going now. ;)

Okay, I know most women have a guilty pleasure, but mine's not as easily defined as "watching Gossip Girl" or whatever.

...

Alright.  It kinda can.  This definitely counts, and I can't believe I didn't think of it right away.  In fact, I'm indulging right now.  Ready?

*tiny embarrassed voice*

I adore Taylor Swift music.  I'm not talking I-listen-to-a-few-songs-once-in-a-blue-moon.  I'm talking I-love-these-songs.

*properly shamed face*

Now, I don't like her songs about revenge or "Mean" or most of her breakup songs.  But I love the happy songs.

So now I shall share with you! :D

The Defining Factor

What will be on your gravestone - what will others inscribe?

What defines you?

Are you an athlete?  Writer?  Student?  Christian?  Parent?  Dentist?  Teenager?  Mormon?  Blogger?

You may be many of the above (obviously, you can't be all of the above; if you are, see a therapist and clear up your schedule before you have a heart attack at eighteen).  You may only be one or two.  You may be nothing I've listed.  But what defines you?


Think about it.  We define ourselves every day - every hour - every minute, in fact.  We define ourselves with our clothing.  We define ourselves with our time.  We define ourselves with our habits.  Most obviously, we define ourselves with our words.

We use these defining words online the most.  About you.  Your profile.  Your wall.  Your account.  Share a little about yourself.  How do you see yourself?  Something interesting about you.  Your bio.

I'm many things - daughter, sister, Christian, blogger, teenager, girl, writer, girlfriend, granddaughter, student, reader, Internet user, movie lover, chocoholic, amateur party planner, scrapbooker, crochet hobbyist, poorly-practiced-but-talented guitarist, babysitter, poet...

On my blog, I'm defined by blogger-author-teenager-Christian-girl.  Many other categories pop up, but these are what define me.  Variations of this and other combos define my on Facebook - on Twitter - at church - at home - to new acquaintances - to friends of friends.  I am defined and categorized by these and other words.

I'm not saying defining words are bad.  In fact, they're good and helpful and useful - even necessary.  They're how we introduce others, introduce ourselves, help others to see if we're the right fit for a certain task or job, and explain why we do or don't do certain things.  But some defining factors are harmful - to our emotions when others use them.  To our character when we use them.  To our reputation when they apply.

Slut.  Slacker.  Murderer.  Thief.  Rebel (in the traditional, anti-authority sense).  Bully.  The list goes on, with varying degrees of evil associated with each word.

So I ask again, what defines you?

Online... at home... at school... at work... at church?

To your friends... your enemies... strangers... acquaintances?

Peers... those above you... those below you?

What defines you?

Heroes

I was just re-reading several posts on this blog, and I decided to see what I'd labeled "Inspired by Bailey."  I know that many more posts were affected by her influence than are tagged, but I only tag the posts that are directly inspired by her, and I wanted to see which ones those were.  As I was reading, I found myself for the millionth time wondering what was so amazing about her to me.  Some days I look up to her and other days I know (at least in theory) that she's no 'better' than me or any other girl out there - and she'd be the first to say so.  But still, we all have people we look up to, admire, aspire to be like.  Why?


Instead of doing a Google search for surveys and scientific studies of the brain on this topic, a single thought popped into my mind: She's the same as me, on the same path that I am, just more mature and a little farther along.  This is the same thing I've known in theory but struggled to understand since that first "adoring fan" comment I left on her blog.  Today, something clicked in my brain.  Maybe it's because it's been around a year since I first started following her (and I don't mean just in the blog sense, I mean in the adoring-little-kid-who-clings-to-teen-hero sense.)  But as I re-read the birthday letter slash guest post she wrote for me, I started to honestly see our similarities.  We're both teen girls, with a passion for God and a desire to do right, stumbling through life and struggling to separate God's opinion from man's interpretation of it.

Suddenly, I realized what made us the same - and what really made us different - all at once.  I used to tell myself we were equal in God's eyes while believing that she, and all my other heroes, was superior to me - in God's eyes and everybody else's.  But we really, truly, honestly are equals.  We're just at different stages in life - whether in regards to spiritual, physical, emotional, academic(al?), or other forms of growth.  Some people are older than others.  Some people are in a higher grade at school, or have more years of college under their belt.  Some people have mastered certain character qualities and are now working on something else.  But they doesn't mean any of us have reached the finish point of growth.

You know, I was going to end with a nice clincher sentence and thought-provoking statement, but instead I'll just point something weird and amazing and slightly unreal-feeling.  Apparently God has decided once again to use my younger self to teach my older self.  (Has He ever done that to you?  I find it happens most often with the obvious, right in front of us, known that all along sort of things.)  Back when I first started this blog, I also made a few pages.  I've added and edited and updated since then, but I'd just like to point my lovely readers' attention to one of the very first things I wrote on this blog that is now oh-so-fitting: http://maybeteenauthor.blogspot.com/p/my-heroes.html

Even superheroes can be normal. :]