My Lovers

      Two questions: "can men wear heels ?" And "will I ever wear heels ?" Well I think we should start by looking at the history of high heels. 

      Heels on shoes started in Europe. It was originally for horseback riding boots. Soon the rich and the royal males started adding heels to their shoes. They thought that it was more manly and also because they were royal and in the upper class, they liked being taller and more powerful. So heels were started in men's fashion. This trend became so popular, people in the middle classes started wearing heels too. Then women started to follow men's fashion. Women started to have shorter hair, and wore heels too. Then heels fell out of style. After a while, it came back into fashion but this time, it's in women's fashion. The heels got skinnier and skinnier, and higher too. People thought that it made women looked sexier and more attractive so it stayed in fashion. 

      So see, after that little history lesson you now know that heels were originally worn by males, and, yes, I do love high heels. I actually don't know why I love them so much. Probably because it's very empowering and confidence-boosting to have great shoes. Also it's fashionable. Of course, we should not only be confident when we have heels on. I'm glad to see girls becoming more confident in flats, because wearing heels too much can be dangerous to your bone structure and cause pain, but I will still love them forever. They are the best in my opinion. I will seriously love my shoes more than my men. If they ever say something about throwing away my babies, I will probably throw him out the window. I don't want men to spend huge amounts of money on a diamond ring. All they have to do is get me a big closet and fill it with heels for me.

      I will and want to wear heels. It does not make me a transgender, drag queen, or a cross dresser if I wear heels. Heels were first wore by men and I believe that fashion is beyond gender. A lot of people question if I'm becoming a girl when I wore lip gloss so I can't even imagine their reaction if I wear heels. My plan is to wear heels to my senior prom. It will be fabulous. I can totally rock and work high heels. 

      So okay, my advice is, if men aren't treating you right, ditch the men and get shoes, because not only do great shoes get you to great places, they are the best lovers you can ever have. 

Editor: A.B.

Love (Poem)

What I desire in life, is love.

And it's time to be clear with this love.

This love that I seek for every second of my life.

What I desire in life, is love.

A kind of love that's perfect,

May not be perfect for others, but for me.

What I desire in life, is love.

A love that's so big, 

it can fill the emptiness of my heart.

What I desire in life, is love.

A love that keeps me on my toes,

never knowing what's coming next.

Full of excitement and surprise everyday.

What I desire in life, is love.

A love that's so real, yet so unreal.

It has the power to bring me into another world,

another world full of fantasies and happiness.

What I desire in life, is love.

A love that's important,

losing each other can seem like death.

And it's heard to breath without each other.

What I desire in life, is love.

A love that completes who I am,

that not only makes me comfortable in my own skin,

but also gives me freedom.

What I desire in life, is love.

A love that's so strong,

it kills me everyday yet gives me the strength to live.

That's the love I desire,

and no one seems to be able to promise it exists.

Still I believe,

that this is love.

                                                                                              

                                                                                                      Leon Tsai

Editor: A.B.

Comfortability & Confidence

      I couldn't help but wonder this morning, is there a difference between being comfortable in your own skin and being confident of your body ? I asked around for a little research and what I got is all similar. Most people think that they are related but confidence is a level above being comfortable, and I agree with these people, but I don't wanna focus on the confidence part, because it's overdone and people are still not confident of themselves. I wanna look into the being comfortable part. 

      What does it even mean to be comfortable in your own skin ? Well, I define it as "feeling free and happy in your body, and being able to do and say things without doubting yourself or being afraid of what others may think". I think it's very important to be comfortable with yourself. I'm not asking everyone to be confident, but at least be comfortable. 

      Today, one of my friends told me that she thinks I'm confident. Am I ? I mean, I really do try to be confident when I wear sunglasses in the hallways, call myself queen, and wear my platform converse. I actually think that I should win an Oscar award for my acting everyday. I pretend to be confident because I was bullied, and I was the one crying and hating on myself. I tell myself that I can not be the loser anymore. I want people to think that no matter what they say, I will not be affected by them. It can be quite scary to put on a mask everyday, and it can also be great because after awhile, you start to believe that your acting is real. I know that I'm not confident at all the second I strip away my clothes and my make-up. Those are the moments in life when you really see yourself. Without the fashionable clothes and the sparkly lip gloss, all you have is what you're born with. In those moments, you know if you're comfortable with your body or not. To be honest with you all, it scares me to look at myself and see all the flaws and imperfections. It makes us understand that no matter how hard we try, we will always be the loser, because after all this time, we have been fighting the wrong enemy. The only enemy we have to really face is ourselves.

      I just want you all to ask yourselves, are you comfortable in your own body ? If not, then I want you to understand something. Beauty is a standard that people create to make themselves feel better, but doing that, they bring other people down. So make your own standard. The sizes on your clothes and your shoes are just numbers, they may measure your body, but they can never measure the love and care you receive from others. If you were even gonna change something about yourself, do it for you, not for others. It's okay to take time to learn how to love yourself. It is completely fine. Just look at me typing this piece up and still trying to be comfortable in my own skin. 

Editor: A.B.

The Arts Industry - The Costs

      From my last piece, I mentioned how tough it is to make it in the Arts' industry because there is so much competition. Before even the competition, we need to think of how we are going to get into that competition and the costs of doing so.

      This is not only for the arts careers, but for all careers that are tough and that force you to give up a lot of things along the way to success. I'm going to focus on the arts area because that's what I want. People tell me that the arts path is like a fire that burns money, and this can be the truth. A lot of the art colleges that have great programs of design, visual art, music, dance...etc are getting more expensive every year. Not everyone is as talented as Gabrielle Chanel who grew up an orphan and taught herself fashion design, and not a lot of people can get scholarships... So I guess either we need to be rich, have like three jobs, or have student debt.

      Even before that, just buying art brushes, ballet shoes, strings for your instrument can cost a lot of money. I really don't want to keep bringing up money because it kills the dream. I love to be in dreamy, romantic fantasies where people just get what they need and are happy, but the truth is that if we don't work hard we will become failures. We also need to see the ugly dark side of the society we're in with the scandals of money, drugs...etc. No one is perfect and the same goes for the world we live in. That's why it's important for us to work hard on fixing this society.

      Well, everyone has to pay the cost of success, and that's work. The cost of friendships are time, effort, and care. The cost of family is love. The cost of love is acceptance. See ! I just made pricing and money sound cute. Seriously, remember the costs of your future and your life, and own them and pay them. 

      Also, thank you guys so much if you still read my blog !!! I want to share my ask.fm account, so if you guys have any questions on my blog pieces or if you have any topic ideas, just leave a comment on my ask.fm wall !!! It's @LeonTsai  and anything is welcome <3 xoxo 

The Arts Industry - The Chances

      What is Art ? What do you think of when you see the word Art ? A lot of people say things like expressing yourself, creativity, diversity, differences...etc. My views on art were like those too when I first started my grade nine high school year in the arts program. This year, as I looked deeper into the art I'm learning and the environment of artists, I have found that it's very different. 

      Maybe it's because I switched to a more enriched program, or maybe it's just because we are a year older, but as I looked into the art, I seem to be losing myself. Yes of course Art can be those beautiful things we talked about, but the Art industry can be nasty. I have always wanted to be a fashion designer in NYC, with fabulous night clubs, luxury fabrics, shoes, fancy events, and people. Then I asked myself, after slapping myself out of the Sex & The City fantasies, is this industry what I really want ? The thought of evening competing and fighting for that one dream job with millions of other talented people kills me. They are literally measuring talents and comparing them. I don't have to imagine that feeling, I can feel that in the arts' program. Don't get me wrong, the arts' program is truly amazing, and it gives us a very professional and creative way to improve our area of skills, but it's gathering together a lot people who have the same dream. I can work on this assignment for two weeks, try my best, restart two times, and still see that girl who only needs one week and gets a better result than me. Yes, talents can improve and grow, but those people who are already ahead of the game make me nervous. I don't know if I can live like this. Even if I get to have my own brand, it still will be a competition with other brands. This industry looks for the best and wants only the best.

      Maybe this kind of pressure pushes us to become better artists and people, but I feel like we are just waiting for ourselves to snap from the pressure. The one that survives is the one that's successful and can really make their dreams come true. Maybe I'm just a weakling who still needs time to manage the pressure and the concepts. This is what I need to accept if I want to make it big in this industry. Sometimes I'm jealous of those who have a cute small dream. You know those who want to own a bakery or just become a local retail shop owner. Very cute, realistic, and fabulous, but not something I would want. I know that if I want things, I have to suck it up. The Art industry I'm talking about is the industry where people become stars, singers and actors on Broadway, great fashion designers, professional dancers or super models.

      As unrealistic as those careers sound, that's what I want, and knowing the ugly sides of this industry makes me anxious. It's both beautiful and ugly, like our society. What are the chances of us even getting to where we want ? The chance percentage is probably smaller than the chance of me receiving a Chanel classic 2.55 flap purse as a gift. Maybe that's not true. Do you even guys how expensive Chanel is !? Anyway, if we want our big dreams, we have to work hard. 

Editor: A.B.