The Perks of Being a Wall Flower

This weekend I saw The Perks of Being a Wall Flower, and it was-in a word, amazing.

It was like living inside the pages of an old diary, or a love letter someone has cherished for years.

It captured the feeling of being an outsider in High School-something I know a little too much about-so perfectly. The feeling of fitting in with the people who don't fit in, the small victories, the soul crushing losses, the magic of hearing a song you've never heard as you drink freedom from the open window of a car full of your closest friends as it speeds down the highway. The feeling of seeing Rocky Horror Picture Show back when that was what you did-dressed in drag and went to an outlandish show with your friends, where you laughed at the awkwardness of it all. The feeling of knowing you're broken, deep down inside in some inexplicable way, but realizing that maybe there's hope for you yet. Back when you made mixed tapes for people, and you lived for late night conversations in diners, back when we all knew the answers to the Universe.

We all knew what our lives were going to be like, and we were so unashamed of how certain we were of it.

We knew things, we felt things, we weren't afraid to fall ridiculously in love and we didn't apologize for any of it.

It was a song from my Freshman year coming on the radio during a midnight drive.

It was looking through my yearbook one last time.

It was painful and magical and beautiful.

By far, the best movie of the year.

And remember, no matter how old you get, or what sad things happen to you in this life, the best songs are played with the windows down, in a car with the people you love most in the world, on nights when it seems so obvious

that we are infinite.