Movies, especially Disney ones, often have something for the audience to take in. I think it’s the same with books. Each give us a different perspective to consider, and each could also possibly change the way we think about something altogether. Usually, there’s a moral to the story. When I was in grade school, my teachers assigned worksheets that made us, the students, dissect each book we read and movie we watched in class and for class. We’d spend so much time trying to figure out what the setting, plot, theme etc. was. And the theme of the story was never really something simple; the teachers I had taught that answers in life weren’t and aren’t simple. Life lessons are never simple to learn, but the lessons you’re supposed to learn are rather easier to identify in the end.

And they don’t even have to be super complex, requiring a short answer response consisting of two to four sentences. For example, the theme in Warm Bodies appears to be that love conquers all. Other life lessons may not even have to do with school or work or play or making money; they can even be epiphanies.

These are [some of] mine. You can disagree. I agree to disagree. These are merely things I have learned and realized.

1. It really hits home when people who went to your school die. I don’t know why, but it does. Although I may not know those who passed away, it still hits home.
2. When you listen, you learn. When you make a mistake/fail, you learn even better. Experience is wisdom, and wisdom is much more powerful than knowledge.
3. Things don’t “get better”, and the world has not “gotten worse”. We have the Internet, which opens up many more doors to violence. The media spends more time featuring tragedies. Life doesn’t get better; those living simply grow stronger, which helps them deal with things better.
4. Strength is a matter of opinion, self-worth, self-esteem and self-confidence. Only once’s self can decide whether they are strong. Those around cannot genuinely determine for a fact that the other is strong. The opinion relies on the feeling felt by the person himself/herself and no one else.
5. Friends will come and go, even if you don’t want them to. Many times, they may leave because they dislike a quality about you. You don’t have to allow them back in in the “friend zone” if you don’t want to risk getting hurt again. That neither makes you mean nor means that you can’t have a relationship with them. You can have a relationship with them without being friends. They’re called acquaintances.
6. There’s nothing wrong with fighting those above you in order to protect what you believe in and what you believe is truly right, even if the people you are fighting are those who raised you. Even authorities are wrong at times.
7. When you think too much about something, you tend to lose sight of what is right in front of you.
8. It’s okay to brag about being a family member’s/person’s favorite. Just don’t be annoying.
9. It’s better to have a free mind than a caged one.
10. Parents should not use paranoia to assist in raising children.
11. Just because you share blood with someone doesn’t mean that you’re family with them.

I had no idea how to word #11 for the longest time until The Fosters’ “Vigil” episode aired.

“You don’t know what it’s like to not have enough — to wonder why the people who were supposed to love you more than anything didn’t.” — Callie, The Fosters

There’s never been a show that has actually made me feel like someone could truly understood how I feel in the family boat. This episode really hit home hard, but it was still really wonderful in picking up some pieces and putting them back together.

“DNA doesn’t make a family. Love does.” — Lena, The Fosters

Any that you’ve learned?