You are too calculating. Don’t tell me you are young. Youth gives all it can: it gives itself without reserve.
-St. Josemaria Escriva
There is an innate desire within a young person to respond to the “callings” of youthhood. What are these callings?
Callings for greatness. For change. For renewal. For love. For Truth.
These are not only “callings” that every youth possess, whether knowingly or not. They are cries; even if a young person doesn’t know it, even if I don’t know it, there is a part of me that cries out for these callings, desperately yearning to fulfill them.
To be young is powerful; to be young is to be innovative. To be young is to be idealist–and a little naive, yes. But to be young is to have strength and, to quote the saint above, to “give itself without reserve”.
Have you ever turned on a popular kids TV show and been amazed by the simplicity, the beauty, the innocence, and the passion with which the characters think, act, and speak? Think about Avatar: The Last Airbender. There is so much we can take away from this television series; the beauty of it all, the innocence of the characters, their child-like yet laudable determination to bring justice to the world…the list goes on and on!
Think of Katniss from The Hunger Games and her desire to bring about change within her world, to rip out the old and bring in the new. Think about so much of the anime out there that features young characters pitted against older opponents. This style of story telling, in which youth struggles against the old, the innocence of truth fights against the lies of the world, is not practiced merely so that the stories will appeal to children. Having younger characters is not merely fanservice. There is something unique, deep, and profound that the youthfulness inside of us is trying to say, whether we know it or not.
The world needs youth, and it needs change. We must never cast wisdom and experience aside; we must never cast Truth aside. But the change that the world requires must come from youth…because it is the youth of the world that will shape the future.
What are we doing to empower young people to initiate this change in the world and renew the good parts of the old, while casting off the mediocrity of the past?
Writing is my way to be a rebel. To be defiant. To rise up to the challenges of the world and declare that I will not be defeated. I am strong and powerful because of writing. Because of writing, I can create change. Because of writing, I can declare the Truth.
Roaring out like a lion, fighting with the fire of innocent, pure determination…crying out that youth has come to reclaim what the world was always meant to be.
I’m an idealist, I know 🙂
If anyone is interested in joining a young writer’s club, please contact me in the comment section below or email me at aultsom23(at)gmail(dot)com! Age range: 15-22 (exceptions can be made). Participation required: (minimal/as much as you want!)
Oh, and did I mention that I wrote a book that simply BREATHES everything I just talked about above?
The Golden Lands 