Happy Fifth Anniversary SHINee!!!

Five years ago my favorite band in the entire world debuted.

They will likely never see this, but I still have to do it.

One year ago I was going through a rough patch. I felt like I was in a hole and I felt alone and it was scary. That year ago, I randomly found Ring Ding Dong. After that it went to Lucifer. Then Sherlock. And then it got to the point where I bought as many albums as possible, and it was the only thing I listened too. I became determined to learn the dances, the lyrics, and I became a fan of SHINee.

While I probably will never be the biggest fan I still love every guy in that group. Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, and Taemin. They've each given me something different.

Onew inspired me to be a caring person, someone people could look up to, but he made me feel like my shyness wasn't a bad thing. He reminds me how to be grounded, he reminds me that trying hard always brings results.

Jonghyun inspired me to embrace the funkiness inside of me, to make me want to go to Japan even more, and to really appreciate those who love you and those places where some of the greatest memories are made.

Key inspired me to embrace my uniqueness in every way possible. While I'm still shy about how I dress and how I look, he also said, "My dream isn't to become the best, it's to become someone I'm not ashamed of."
Key, I'm trying to live by that quote and be someone I'm not ashamed of. :) Honestly, you've taught me a lot about myself. Thank you.

Taemin inspired me to go skydiving even more. He's the baby of the band as I am the baby of my own family. His big jump to independence (or jumping out of the helicopter) inspires me to take risks in life, and he's the proof that those risks can be worth it-you are worth being able to grow.

Minho...inspired me to embrace the tomboy within. He inspired my artistic side even more.  He made me like rap. XD Minho's competitive side is a lot like mine, and knowing that there are others like me out there really helps me not feel so outcasted when I get competitive. Because I'm embracing that competitiveness, I'm going for varsity on my tennis team this year-I'm giving everything I've got. I'm now more determined than ever to start making videos and embracing photography and developing my own style and showing it to the world. And I'm certainly trying to learn to rap Korean and I don't even know the language...but it's a fun challenge.

I'm sure there are other things they've inspired me to do (like write songs...) and the such that isn't coming to me right now, but I've had other bands I've loved too, but this particular band has something about them that is just peculiar. I think it's because their personalities are so diverse, they have concepts like honor and respect, and the way they incorporate multiple cultures into their videos really inspires me like no other band before.

So overall, this is really just me praising a band who helped me embrace things I was to scared or to shy to embrace before, all while keeping me a modest person. For that I'm eternally grateful.

SHINee FIGHTING!!!!
<3