being a kid in the street to me is doing stupid things sometimes. I truly realized that today I was at my nephew’s 1st birthday celebration party & my brother’s friends were all there. The guys were all acting young again & it was about 15 guys in there 30’s. The fact is being at a child’s birthday party & being around those people who you all love as close friends allows you to be silly on occasion & the proof to it all was that these guys were pushing a car up a hill to. there is a photo I took of it but I don’t have it on my computer. Being with family allows you to be silly & yet still realize on more then one occasion you need to grow up and still act the age you are. sometimes we all wish we could just stare outside the window & toss our problems aside & just live in the true moment of life. I wish could just live my life to fullest in one whole day with out having to head to work & do all the stupid things I use to do as a kid. Exactly like my nephew is doing in this photo.

It was senior year…

Seven girls…

Two epic nights…

After months of practice it all came down to this…

We put on our makeup, grabbed our insturments and walked on stage…

We are the Lacy LucyFers.

We only had one song we knew by Tilly and The Wall, but they cheered on…

GIRL BAND! GIRL BAND! GIRL BAND!

I was so scared that first night, but the rush afterward made it all worth it!

By the next night I was ready to rock and let me tell you we felt pretty badass!

Those two nights were one of my favorite momories from high school and from what people tell us theirs too.

The Lacy LucyFers…

What inspires me? Well life does, people of all kinds the ones that make me laugh and the ones that make me cry. The ones that make me scream because I’m so angry with them and the ones that make me see things in a new way. Music, it touches my heart and makes me better when I need it too. I shared the love of music with my old man before he passed away. I write because it’s the only thing I know how to do. You see I’m not very good and saying out loud the things that I feel and the things that live inside my head, unlike my sister who can tell anyone and everyone, anything and everything that’s on her mind the moment she has the thought, I can’t. Writing is how I express myself, I could tell you my deepest darkest secrets when I put pen to paper. It’s the thing that makes me happy, it’s the thing I want to do for the rest of my life. I wish more then anything to share the world inside my head with the world in which we live in. Movies also inspire me, like the Rocky movies (I know that may make me a dork but I don’t care) the lessons in those movies just always stuck with me. And when I watched the last Rocky Balboa movie that came out I cried during most of it, specially when he gave that speech to his son! I don’t know maybe it’s because it reminds me of my old man that I love it all so much. When I was little my dad was my best friend it the whole world, my hero, my daddy. For a time we didn’t get along because of certain things…but in the end he was my dad. He tought me to be myself because if your not yourself what’s the point? And if that means your a weirdo, who’s too loud or too quiet and your crazy to boot that’s ok, as long as that’s you. He showed me that things, people, places, whatever can be beautiful if you just look, listen, try to get to know them. I remember when our dog died and what he said to me, “Mychi it’s ok to be sad right now but you have to remember that they never really leave us. You’ll always have them in your memories and all the good times you had together and more importantly in your heart. So it’s ok to cry and miss them but not forever, you’ll see them again some day.” I also remember turning the radio up so loud the house would shake and we would dance around in our pj’s to the good old Rock and Roll, playing air guitar like pros. And all the saturday cartoons and late night movies that meant the world too me. He would always tell me to fight for my dreams and stand up for myself, that if there is something in this world you want then go out and get it but only if your willing to work for it. Before my father died he watched my graduate high school and get the car of my dreams, which is a 1968 vw bug that is silver with zebra print on the inside (it’s awesome, I know) and he was the one to teach me to drive it and yes we did have the radio on the whole time…haha. My family and my six best friends are my world, I love them all. I often have to ask myself though how is it I’ve manged to make it to 19! I mean their all a bucket of crazy so how I’ve manged to stay alive is beyond me, but I’m here. Kids in the street inspires me too because your right about it, we are all just kids in the street dreaming our crazy dreams. And it’s sad how many of us forget that and become working stiffs that forget the simple joys in life, forget to have adventures and to question things, to stop and just breathe and refect on life. To look in the mirror and remember that kid in the street. So what inspires me? Life does and that I’m still apart of it.

Being a kid in the street to me is all about having fun, especially with music. My guitars are my life. I have been playing for 7 years now and there isn’t a day I don’t play my guitars. I have stage fright when it comes to singing and playing in front of people, but lately I’ve been trying to put myself out there. I was never really confident with my singing voice, until I sang in front of a group of my friends and they were speechless. I can be very quiet and shy and it shocked them that I loved to sing. Last night I  performed at a talent show at my school. The whole auditorium was filled with people. I was shaking and weak in the knees while walking out on stage. I almost turned around but the crowd screaming for me made me feel more confident then I’ve ever felt in my life. I sang proudly “Mean” by Taylor Swift, but did the same thing AAR did at the CMT Awards. I went into “Gives You Hell.” When I went into a completely different song the crowd went CRAZY and started singing along. It was the greatest feeling I’ve ever had. At the end of all the acts, they called all the contestants back on to the stage. They called the third place winner, the second place winner, and then my name. I had won first place. I could’nt believe it. The truth is though, I didn’t expect to win any prize last night. i didn’t care at all about winning or losing. I just wanted the confidence that was inside of me all along to reveal itself to me. I am so thankful for last night, more then anyone will ever know. It will be a memory I will remeber FOREVER.

I think that the best thing I like to do in this world, is to live. Being joyful, laughing out loud, feeling free, living each moment as it could be the last. Taking what life gives me, and appreciating it. Everything is not especially perfect, but whenever you decide to be happy, you could see life in another way. In a wonderful way. 

I am nothing.

There are seven billion people in the world, and I am one.

Just one.

How insignificant.

But damn it, I am something! I have felt love and I have survived heartbreak. I have created and I have destroyed. I have conquered the tallest of trees. I have laughed until I cried and I have cried until I laughed. I have talked and I have listened. I have been brave enough to stand on the edge, but scared enough to walk away. I have torn up the streets with my bicycle and my brothers. I have learned. I have suffered and I have rejoiced. I have run through a sprinkler on a sultry summer day. I have rolled down a snow covered hill. I have accepted death and I have welcomed life. I have stayed out all night. I have chased lightening bugs and made wishes on dandelions. I have doodled names in notebooks and I have burned pictures. I have experienced some of the purest Indian summers. I have annihilated a gallon of ice cream, a whole pie and a sappy love movie. I have slept under the stars. I have filled the gas tank with no particular destination in mind. I have been strong enough to make it to the top and I have been humbled enough to fall right back down. I am an artist. I am a musician. I am a reader. I am a writer. I am a gypsy at heart. I am a fighter. I am a broke college student. I am a daughter, sister and friend.  

I am something.

I am Shelby.

I am a kid in the street.

And that is what makes me significant.  

*Note: The photo is of my littlest brother. Although it doesn’t depict the poem 100%, I thought it was life in it’s purest, simplest form.

I turned 13 this year, and I don’t know what it is, but I feel more free all of the sudden. I like to try new things and sort of like taking chances. I enjoy just wandering the neighborhood streets and hanging out with my friends. We take weird pictures and just enjoy life (: Whether it’s prank calling, talking to random people, truth or dare, stuff like that. 

Out of the pictures I have from when I was younger (which truthfully isn’t many), this is the best representation of what childhood was for me.

This picture is from a family trip I took to the Oregon coast. That was the first time I ever saw anyone skimboarding, and instantly it was something I wanted to do. So without any knowledge of the sport, or even how to wax the board, I went out and bought a skimboard. I brought it to a nearly empty beach and began to try and imitate what I saw being done earlier. I’m sure my technique was totally off, but that didn’t matter to me. I threw the board down, chased it across the water, and jumped towards it hoping I would get lucky. In the process there were many times when I wasn’t so lucky, but falling down and getting soaked in the ocean didn’t stop me. I knew what I wanted to do, and I was going to do it no matter what. After many failed attempts, I finally hopped on and a true smile spread across my face as I achieved the gliding I had been trying for all day. It only lasted a few seconds, but it made all my hard work completely worth it.

To me this photo represents the seemingly endless motivation I felt as a child. I chased innocent ambitions with no fear of failure, and nothing could get in my way when I was set on accomplishing something. Trying new things wasn’t a worry, but an excitement. I was easily inspired, and I wasn’t afraid to take that inspiration and create things because everything was worth doing even if I was unsure of the outcome.

Whether it’s kids in the street or kids on the beach, some of the best memories in life are of times filled with feelings of being young and alive.

This is a website I made for Kids in the Street, featuring a slideshow of photos I’ve taken in the past few years (mouseover the images for captions/descriptions). Each of these photos represents a moment where I felt infinite in my youth and freedom - from motorbike rides in Southeast Asia to watching the sunrise with close friends. I never want to forget these moments and I never want to stop creating memories like these. I want to hold onto this feeling of a kid in the street for as long as I can. So far, so good.

My website also includes a short bio about myself and a 5-track playlist of songs I felt encompassed the feeling of being a kid in the street.

www.wix.com/ljseattle/kidsinthestreet

Here’s a sneak preview:

This picture of quotes says it all!  Music is what unites us all and what makes us feel young and like we matter.  Without music I don’t know where I would be, it is what gets me through the hard times in life and what makes the happy moments feel even brighter!  It’s those words that are said perfectly when we can’t figure out the right way to say it out loud.  There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t have my music playing somewhere in the background to my life, and I’m not embarrassed to admit that I sing and dance along to it while cooking and cleaning with the windows wide open!  I love bringing music into people’s lives and bringing them to a show so they can feel the complete happiness that is felt when you see that band you’ve been counting down the days to see!  We all feel it, you can be shy/loud/skinny/overweight/blonde/bubbly/quiet/alone.. it does NOT matter, we are all joined at that concert event to enjoy the same passion for music.. and it unites us all!  Just for that one night, you are not alone! =]

A picture with the one person I’ve known the longest. We grew up together ans she knows and accepts me exactly as i am. :)