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. :)

In this life we all have moments that define us that take are breath away that makes us laugh that makes us cry and that makes us grow. We can’t always capture these moments on film or in pictures. Life is just that way sometime. When I first found out about this contest I was over the moon with excitement that I started to think about a moment in my life that meant something to me. And when I did I found out that I had so many memories and moments that some are caught on film and some are not. On moment that I did come up with was this…. One day my mom and I were driving to San Francisco for a fun day. Now being me I brought some “car tunes” to make the drive more fun. And it was a good thing I did because we were stuck in BUMPPER to BUMPPER traffic. The next song to play was “MOVE ALONG” by YEP you guessed it the All American Rejects! I started to laugh. Why is this so funny? Because we were not MOVING at all! We were so stopped you could get out of your car meet your neighbors and even have a tailgate party put everything back in your car and move up just a space. That’s how stopped we were. But what make this even better is while I’m singing the end part of the song Move Along, “RIGHT BACK WHAT IS WRONG” my mom is singing at the same time “STAY IN YOUR LANE WHERE YOU BELONG” we put the song on repeat until we finally moved . But what is so cool is that before this day I just got her hooked on them with the song “Give You Hell” she loves that song. I guess that this is more of a funny memory instead of a moment. But one moment in my life that I do love is one that made me realized what I want for my life. One day my friend and I rehearsed a song that we were going to sing for our moms, when we performed the song for them I seen the look on my mom’s face. It was of happiness and joy, when we were done they clapped for us. Oh what a rush! It was on that day and at that moment that I not only found my passion, my love. I found what made me truly happy…SINGING! Ever since I was a little girl I’ve been in love with all things music and maybe that’s because in the 22 years that I’ve been here on earth I have been around music of all kind. This being because my mom raised us on “classic rock” such as LED ZEPPLIN, PINK FLOAD, AC-DC, BON JOVI, TOM PETTY, THE WHO, OZZIE OSBORN, and so on. We were allowed to listen to what we wanted as well but usually the classics. So for me music is something that always lifts my spirits and makes me real happy, and when I’m singing I always hope that music has the same effect on everyone who is listening to it. My dream is that one day I can meet and share the stage with all who influenced me musically and pay it forward. So yes I would have to say that spending the day with my mom, singing out loud to your favorite songs, being so completely silly, letting go, having fun and forgetting where you are and being with the ones you love is one of my favorite moments because that is a day that I’m always going to remember as long as I hear that song and this band! Good Luck With The New Album **Keli**

Playing with chalk with a childhood friend pretending that life was as easy as it was when we were 10

I’ve been playing soccer since I was really young. This year marked the eleventh year I would’ve been playing. Unfortunately, I had an accident. I screwed up my knee. Had surgery. Now I have to wait a year until I’m able to do what I love to do. I used to play every day for two hours and just the game was my best friend. I’m not even allowed to run yet because of my knee. I can’t train and I can’t think of even playing soccer because of that traumatic experience. I’m not even sure if I’ll be the same when I step on that field again. If touching the ball again will be my last? I’ve had a lot of dounts about no being able to play but I’m starting to overcome my fear and learn there are bigger things out there.

Below is a painting I created two years ago, which explains the title above. The subject of the painting is my long time muse and Cousin Cherie. She means the world to me, even though we live so far apart and lead entirely different lives; whenever we’re together I feel just like I did when we were scabby kneed eight year olds. 

i remember a few weeks back when my dad and i went to CVS, or some other drug store, to pick up a prescription. it wasn’t ready yet so we had to wait. we both looked over and a little chinese boy, the age of 3 or 4, was crying and screaming in chinese toward his mother and pulling away and pointing at the candy. All kids want candy, thats all i can say about that, and its the truth. we could definitely tell that the little boy, no matter what nationality he was or what language he was speaking, he obviously wanted candy. i remember doing that, playing the pity card on my parents, crying and seeming pathetic to get what i wanted, and it almost never worked. and most parents are the same no matter what language they speak or nationality they are, the parent redundantly says “No,” with the most annoyed face, and exhausted expression. so sum up: the parent says no when the kid wants candy. im pretty sure that there are incidents like that one happening every day in some other countries all over the world, and all i can say is good luck to the parents because dealing with kicking screaming kids even over a small deal like candy, im sure is NOT a blast

Every year, the burlington sound of music festival happens to fall within the week after my final exams end. It is always the most anticipated day of my year, even more than christmas! This is me crowd surfing my problems away, and loving life