Weekly Blog Post: Revised Kissing Kate

Kissing Kate  by Lauren Myracle
Special thanks to Joyce Lu, my wonderful partner for this assignment. 
My original blog post.
          This book is a beautiful book and I wished I read this book earlier. It not only touches my heart, but I know it touches other teenager's hearts too. This book has only one problem: being gay. But just one problem can cause so many things like loss of friendship and rejection and maybe even learning to move on. The problems that Lissa (the main character) are facing can connect to so much people.

          First of all, being gay and actually saying something about it. Lissa's problem is being gay and because I'm not gay, so that kind of puts me in her own shoes. What would it be like if I was a closet gay? What would I do if all my friends left because of it? I would probably be way more immature than Lissa for sure. But that doesn't mean she's doing a such a great job on handling this situation; she doesn't even talk to anyone about it and that makes me think ''Hey, it's not all her fault. She just doesn't want to tell anyone.'' But the thing is that she seems ashamed of herself. My parents have always told me to be normal and to end up like a good girl and I knew that if I did something out of the blue, they would make be feel so ashamed and embarrassed. That makes me think about how Lissa feels and what a hard time she's having, but part of being who you are is actually saying it. Who cares what anyone else thinks? This book really taught me a good lesson on being who you are and not just following anyone else. My friend actually lives by this theme and I know that you should be yourself, but sometimes it's hard to. I can definitely relate to Lissa in this situation. You want to be yourself but at the same time you don't want to.
         
           This book makes me think about how everyone is different and unique and how you can't fight against that even if you are different. If I were Lissa, I would just get over about how I think I'm gay. I mean, Lissa had one small kiss with her bestfriend, Kate. What's the big deal? I honestly think that Lissa is overreacting. She goes on about Kate and missing her because Kate had left, but Lissa didn't do anything about it; just like how she didn't do anything about being a closet gay. Lots of people are like that, but that really makes me think. Maybe the reason she didn't do anything about that was because she was scared, just like how scared people are when they see their crushes. It's our natural instincts, but even though I'm like that, I hate it. Reading this book made me hate myself and Lissa for not just doing something and getting it done. There are so much "cows" in this world. We're all scared of getting slaughtered or actually getting hurt by the ones we love (or like) that we refuse to do anything about it. Just do it because you'll never know until you try. Lissa is really the shy type so I can tell why she wouldn't just try for the heck of it, but sometimes it's easier to break through than to just stay in your little corner. 
         
          Believing in yourself plays such a major role in this story. If Lissa did believe in herself, she would've found OUT that she actually had friends that love her dearly right from the beginning. I know a lot of people including myself that would never believe in themselves under any circumstances. But if you can't trust yourself then what makes you think you can trust anyone else? I've never had any luck in believing in myself, but this book helped me a lot on that. It tells me that you should just be yourself, stop hiding, and just believe. I also have problems with learning to trust because I've been hurt way too much times, but sometimes you have to just let go. Just stop holding back and stop over thinking about things. I notice that Lissa has so many complex ideas of Kate and it's so ridiculous that you actually wonder if Lissa had known her best friend at all. But, hey, that's the thing. When you get hurt, you trust less; not more. 
         
           I realize in this book that Lissa got really hurt and it wasn't entirely her fault. It was the fact that she had a friend that wouldn't accept her. Kate's really the kind of person you don't want to mess with; she'll take you down. But Lissa didn't even mess with her and only told her the truth, but she still got pushed away and even got called a ''dyke''. I know that friends should always be there for each other and if one changes, it's usually the time to let go. Well, Lissa and I have the same problem; we can't seem to let go and just drop and forget someone just like that. When you've had a friendship with someone long enough, you want it to last; not end. But the fact that someone is insulting you and practically pushing you down makes me think of Lissa as a weak, weak girl. One tumble and she's shattered on the floor. The thing that gets to me is that she CAN move on, she CAN forget Kate. She just doesn't WANT to. She has no power whatsoever and that makes me think of myself. I honestly can start crying from one small little thing and the never forget about that little thing. I have no power over my emotions and I can't help but remember the ones that I love even if they push me down a million times. 
          
          I know that at some in life, you will need to move on. No matter what you say now, you will forget everything eventually. I learned this from Lissa who had tried everything to forget about Kate and then actually forgets about her. Some people are naive, some people are weak, some people are powerless, but everyone will move on sometime. I know a lot of people who say that they're ''recovering from moving on''. But the thing is, I completely disagree with them. Moving on makes you a whole lot stronger and you'll actually have experience. Lissa didn't complain about how hard it was to move on; she just did it and she did a great job. And sometimes it might be hard to move on, but it's just easier to forgive and forget. This book portrays this theme in many ways and I love it because it's so... real. Many people say they forgive and forget, but in actuality, they don't. They still have that part of them that won't forgive and definitely won't forget. 
          
          The last theme is that just because someone hurts you doesn't mean you have to hurt them. This partially connects with treating others the way you want to be treated. But when it comes to forgiving and forgetting, you need to let go. Who cares if someone's particularly mean to you? Just be nice and maybe you'll get to influence them. Lissa was just so much more mature than Kate and it reminded me much of my own fights with my own friends. Friendship is really a fragile thing, but just because it shatters once doesn't mean you can't glue it back together again. Instead of taking revenge, actually take the fight seriously. Throwing insults and comebacks won't make the friendship tighter; believe me. Honestly, I'm the kind of person who likes to make clever comebacks, but I try not to do it. I guess I sometimes don't try hard enough and neither does Kate, but trying harder and harder will get you a better result.
          
          This book relates to so much people, especially people who are confused about their sexuality. I feel that this book gives you a ride on a life that many people are experiencing or have experienced. This book can actually connect to people that are different in any way. When reading this book, you'll actually catch a glimpse of yourself no matter how ''normal'' you think you are.