Joining too late... (repost from my Tumblr)

I posted this a while ago on Tumblr. It's by far one of my favorite things I've put online (especially since Hank Green liked it!), so I thought since I need content on here I'd share it:

n regards to pop culture and nerd culture and, you know, culture in general, I often feel like I started too late. Like I missed out on all these awesome things and when I go back and try to experience them I’m not really getting the full experience.

A few years ago, when I first started high school, my sister and I had this obsession with TeenNick. We’d watch all the great shows (a.k.a. Drake & Josh and Zoey 101) of our childhood. Anyway, the channel would always advertise Nick at Nite and they’d be like “come and watch all the great shows of the ‘90’s that you know and love” and “you know you’re a '90’s kid when…”. And before then I always thought that I was a '90’s kid, but I realized that I really wasn’t - I don’t remember the '90’s, I was just born then.

And then you get to now - Nerdfighteria.

I would most certainly describe myself as a Nerdfighter, but I feel like I missed all the stuff that made Nerdfighteria what it is. I only just started watching Vlogbrothers in my freshman year, when I finally convinced myself that the internet wasn’t full of creepy stalkers (yes, that was all I heard at school until roughly 7th grade - “don’t trust anyone on the internet!” But that’s a different story…). Anyway, I never knew the Brotherhood 2.0 days. I never knew Esther. TFiOS was the only reason I even found Vlogbrothers, and I guess, watching YouTube in general. People on YouTube always make reference to 2007 and '08 - the good 'ole days - but that was 8 years ago!

I’m getting to the point where I feel like I’m growing up too fast, but sometimes I feel like I missed out on all the fun parts of the things I love.

Six Word Memoirs

Being me, I waited until the last minute to do my homework, of which one assignment was a Creative Writing prompt asking me to write a six word memoir. I watched the suggested YouTube videos, sat down, and began to brainstorm. Finally, I came up with (coincidentally) six finished memoirs, then I narrowed it down to three. I thought I would share one with you, which happens to be my favorite:

To Do:

• Read

• Write

• Imagine

• Live

The first bullet expresses my love of reading, which is so important to me that I decided it belongs on my Life To Do List. The second shows my aspiration to be a writer, or to at least contribute some form of written word to the world. The third sorta encompasses the first two, but I thought I'd be all fancy shmancy and throw that in too.

And finally, the fourth one: Live.

Sometimes I get so involved in other people's lives (such as those of characters in books, TV shows, and my own stories) that I forget to live my own. When I get like this, I often feel like I have to remind myself to participate in my own story.

I thought I'd share this with you (whoever "you" are) in case this is a common issue - I'm assuming it could be.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave a comment with your six word memoir!

- Erin