Goal # 10: Chapter One

Hello,

My name is Melissa Vitello, and I took a year off of school to write.

I was suppose to go to a film school, and when it didn’t work out; I decided, instead, to chase after dreams I had let sit dormant my entire life. I decided this after a very wise friend of mine encouraged me to let the pieces fall where they may, and not worry about it. He also had to reassure me that my life was not falling apart.

If you have been following my blog; you have journeyed with me through all my adventures this past year...

welcome to my life.

When I was a little girl there was this sort of ride they had at the local park. I can’t for the life of me think of what it’s called, or find a picture of it; but, it was something of a mini ferris wheel laid flat on the ground. It spun when you grabbed onto the handle bars and ran it around in circles. Once you had gained enough momentum, you would jump on and ride it around in circles until it died down again. I probably made my sisters push it around while I hung my head off the back and watched the world whirl by me in blurs of bright colors.

Because that’s what happens when you begin to spin so fast your eyes can no longer process shapes.... everything just blurs together.

That’s kind of how I feel about this past year; like a child trying to process all these blurs of color.

How do I sum up everything I have, and have not accomplished this year? Well, I can’t. There are too many blurs to try to separate. There were too many great experiences, and trying to put words to them would do them a great dishonor.
There were too many awful experiences that are not even worth mentioning.
Such is life.

So, this time I have a good excuse for this entry being late. As I’m sure you can tell by now - this will be my last entry for this blog.

Will I stop writing? Well, that’s like asking Seattle if it will stop raining.

I have taken my time getting to this entry because of obvious reasons... it has been a huge part of my year - and surviving it - and it is hard to part with. It is hard to think of the perfect words to leave you with and, of course, I will be critical of everything I try to write.

Did I make it to Europe as I had planned by the end of my year? Well, obviously not since there is no burly, bearded Irish man by my side right now. But, there is plenty of time to set more goals...Ireland isn’t going anywhere last time I checked.

So, what have I accomplished this month? I may not have made it to Europe, or done many of the other things I intended to. But, I did manage to accomplish one of my biggest goals. I have traveled to the distant, and exotic lands of La Canada ... my new living quarters which is now located, oh, ten minutes away from my prior home.
Now, though it may only be ten minutes away - it feels light years beyond my maturity. There is this little kid inside me that is terrified of trying to make it on my own, but also this bratty fifteen-year-old who is breathing in this great sense of independence!
The first thing I’ve learned; there is no one there to cook me dinner at night.... I tried pawning that duty off on my roommates... they almost put me on probation.

But really...

This year I have learned to lose my dreams with grace, and accept the unknown.

I have learned to take something labeled as filthy, and disgraceful and let it change me into something graceful and confidently empowered. My dance company I think owns the phrase “beauty from ashes”.

When I was first getting ready to move away from my home up north my dad told me that this was going to change the relationships between me, and my sisters. I was twenty, so naturally I didn’t believe him.
Needless to say . .. I’ve learned the value of family.

I’ve learned dreams do not happen via money and a degree... but rather with drive, and passion, and a few talented people who will stand by you. I have made two, going on three films now with empty pockets and I am confident now that I just might not have to be a waitress the rest of my life.... Maybe.

I have sifted through the sea of toads, been patient and impatient with love only to learn that my particular story is still being written... and whether I want to accept it or not, I have to. No good story can be rushed, and love sort of chooses you when it likes - not the other way around.


I’ve learned that everyone has a voice worth listening to, and a story to tell. Whether they are screaming it into a microphone, or speech impaired, and wheel chair bound. There are just too many different ways to express that voice of passion, that sometimes we don’t always know how to identify it.

I have learned the value of humanity.

I’ve learned that, in the words of one of my guru’s Miranda Lambert, “Jesus, he drank wine and I bet we’d get along just fine, cause if he can calm a storm and heal the blind I bet he’d understand a heart like mine”. I’ll just leave it at that... Yes, it’s country.

I’ve come to understand that passion, and me... we need each other. It’s something I must be apart of in everything I chase. Whether it be in writing, or friendships, romantically, or career chasing... it must be with passion that I seek it. It must involve something I can turn into a story, or a film. Yes, some may call it drama, but every good story thrives on a little drama...

All these things and more I’ve journeyed through, and thought through, and processed, and written down and learned from.... and here I sit feeling like I’ve barely even scratched the surface of life...

Everything is still spinning, and I can hardly set apart the purples from the blues as they whirl by me.

When I started this blog I was sitting on my couch, in the house I recently moved out of. Thinking about how my life was ending.
It was over a cup of coffee and few wise words from George the wise that I realized maybe things don’t end, maybe each new chapter is just a set up to another first chapter.
Because, if you think about it... stories don’t really “End”. They just get ready to start again. The guy catches the girl at the airport right before she boards the plane, and she sees him at the very last second, she runs and jumps into his arms, and they kiss.... the credits roll, the actors go home, they hope for an oscar nod, but the story.... the story has just begun. They get to BEGIN a life together... There is so much left after that.

Here I sit now over a cup of coffee, and a whoopie chocolate pie that I can now feel glueing itself to my hips, understanding why this blog must come to an “End”. Here I am now ready, and excited for the end of this chapter, and a new first chapter to begin.

What am I up to? Well.... You’ll be hearing from me again. If you really can’t handle the suspense... let’s grab a cup of coffee...

Everything starts with coffee.

All of you in some way, shape, or form have been an inspiration to some part of this blog. If I know you - I have probably written about you, or taken something you have said or done and made it an example in my learning process...

Thank you.... So much.

Now, for you....I challenge you to go out into the world today, and do something out of the ordinary. Surprise yourself. Let all the colors of life whirl by, and don’t care about separating them, but rather look at how they compliment each other in swirls.
Sometimes life is not meant to be color coded, or understood. It is just suppose to be taken as it comes in blurs, and enjoyed. So, go... take advantage of life.

Sit at a coffee shop and read something ridiculous, and fun just because.

Drive without knowing where you’re going.

Take a pole dancing class.

Go to a concert, close your eyes, and just let the music tell a story inside your head.

Pick someone out in a crowd that you would normally never give a second thought to... and try to imagine what their life is like.

Find the passion deep down inside of you and let it out... even if that means throwing some glass bottles against a brick wall if that’s where you’re at...

Find some cute guy or girl and dig up the guts to say hi to them, or if you’re not single go do something completely cheesy, and storybook romantic together this Valentine season...

Live.



With grace, and gratefulness....
Pepper

Ireland, I will come for you one day.

The End....... for now.

“Throw myself back into the ocean.... and I’ve lived to tell the tail”
- Quietdrive