2013: The Year of Miley Cyrus

      Well if you haven’t realized already, I am a HUGE fan of Miley Cyrus. I don’t just like her because she’s had the chance to twerk on stage with Robin Thicke, or because she got to date Liam Hiemsworth, or even cause she has a lot of money. I like her because she’s her, and she won’t let anyone tell her differently.

       Ever since she was a little girl she loved acting and singing. I mean hey who wouldn’t be talented with these skills when you’re the daughter of Billy Rae Cyrus? She was always the girl who everyone looked at watched with amazement. Her smile lit up a room and her talents kept their attention. She always did what felt right to her, therefore she changed her birth name from Destiny Hope Cyrus to Miley Ray Cyrus. It first started as a nickname of “smiley miley” but then it was decided that she would just go by Miley. This was impressive to me because she did what she wanted to do and didn’t let anyone stop her even at an early age.             

        Her confidence began to grow as she was the big hit of Disney Channel, the girl with double identities. By day, she was Miley, the sun loving, teenage California beach girl who loved to hang out with friends and have a good time. By night, she was a sensational pop star named Hannah Montana, who drew in many screaming young girls and tunes that would never leave your mind. The way she interacted with her fans of the show, the countless autograph signings and meet and greets she was involved with, showed that once again she was confident with herself and had a genuinely caring attitude toward all her fans.

         But her way of life in 2013 has never made me more proud of her. She was enrolled in the cast of the Last Song, in which was an amazing movie. It is actually one of my all time favorite films. She then realized acting wasn’t her thing anymore and she began to focus on her music career. She was living in Philadelphia for a few months and her outlook on life changed forever. She said in a interview, “I just loved how I was able to walk my dogs down the street, or even grab a coffee at the local coffee shop without the paparazzi all over me like they would be in LA.” This made me realize that she really is just a normal person, who although has a lot of fame, cares about the little things in life that many people take for granted. During her time on the east coast, she cut her beautiful brunette hair off and decided to rock a short blonde look instead. This made a lot of people mad because supposedly “she wasn’t pretty anymore” but to me this made her even more beautiful. She knew this act would cause uproar but she showed her confidence to world by stating, “I don’t care, I feel like myself more than ever before.” Her short hair, acts of twerking in music videos and various live performances, and lack of clothing she prevailed began to become the talk of the century. Opinions started to arise everywhere, most of which were very negative. But then there was me. I loved the new Miley, and not because she was doing “slutty or inappropriate things”, cause I mean I don’t think I could pull of wearing little to none on stage while licking a foam finger, but, I loved her because although everyone was against her, she kept doing her thing and never gave up. I admire those traits more than anything.

         She is still the fun loving Miley that she always was. She still has incredible talent abilities. She still loves her fans more than anything. She is just showing her art in a different way, and she needs to be respected. She was named one of the most interesting people of the year, and I couldn’t agree more. Her confidence and respect for herself will always be my favorite traits about her and I will continue to be a devout fan to her. I can’t wait to go see Miley perform live in Philadelphia this spring!

Tradition

     Tradition is a very popular thing for most people. It could be school, family or friend related. Whether it is something that is original to everyone or is unique to your own life, it still has relevance and if it is adamantly followed it will make its way down to future generations.  These traditions will sometimes be lost along the way but as it’s passed down, it turns into a story, and story is what drives our human minds. Whether the story is fiction or nonfiction we are prone to intently listen and add in our own details as we repeat the anecdote to someone else. For me tradition brings out many colorful and interesting stories and will always hold a special spot in my heart.

        Being the family oriented person that I am, when I think of tradition my mind automatically wanders to great ones that are made with the people I love the most. Around Christmas time each year, everyone in my house is in a cheerful mood and we do many festive activities. My step mom is a personal chef for a living, therefore each year she bakes the most delicious cookies and each one of my siblings and I help her roll out the cookie dough, or add in the last chocolate chip. Although this could be tiring and messy at points, it is something that everyone can enjoy and the taste is priceless.

     Another Christmas time activity includes our family trip to Philadelphia. We wake up bright and early, quickly get dressed and make our way into the city. We first see the light display at the Macy’s Department store, and then we walk around the beautifully decorated city and stop at the Comcast Building. We see a 3-D show of a Christmas theme story and ravish at all the amazing new scenes each year. Then we walk through the Christmas village at Love Park, stopping at the stand to get some freshly made peanuts. Finally, we walk to a nearby restaurant and end our day with a marvelous dinner. Although it may seem repetitive at points, Philadelphia will always be one of my favorite places to go in during Christmas time and each year I find something new that sparks my interest that I didn’t pick up the year before.

       These are just a few traditions that occur during the holidays in my family, and they are ones that I wouldn’t trade for the world. Everyone says that December is the most wonderful time of the year, and for me that is 100% true, but not for the amount of presents we get, but for the valuable time I spend with the most important people in my life. I love telling people about these traditions and feel emotions of excitement and comfort when the words spill out of my mouth. Story is an intriguing part of most people’s lives, and tradition is one of my favorite branches of it. I hope I can continue to tell these stories of valuable traditions to my children and grandchildren and they follow the same ones and add in their own twist as well.