I recently watched a documentary on Netflix called Mortified Nation. In the film, a group of individuals find people around the world to share old journal entries, poems, and letters from their childhood. Not only do the filmmakers ask the participant to share their writings with them, but to also read them to an audience. Because of this, the participants are hesitant to share what they've written, at the risk of embarrassment. But many of the readers realized that just because what they've written is embarrassing, it's still a part of them in some small way. With this realization, it made many of the readers more comfortable with sharing their writings with strangers, because they know that everyone in the audience would be able to laugh along with them, not at them. After watching this documentary, I have been inspired to share excerpts from things I wrote when I was a little younger so that I can laugh at myself, and you can laugh along with me.

This one is from lyrics to a "song" I write during my Freshman year of high school:
"If I was the one you lean on when you cry, I swear that I'd be the sweetest guy. This song's from the soul so I hope you remember, this all started when we met back in September."

Feel the angst from this poem:
" 4-4-14/2:02 P.M. - Let it rain before I burn my bridges again. Hold a light, stay the night, bring a friend. Tell the news of hope and life abroad. Remember death, remember God."
What the hell was I even talking about?

" 2-22-14 - Acne is a horrible thing. I hate it. It hurts. It's on my cheeks, around my lip, and around my nose. What bloody places to get it! Ugh!"
Yes, I really wrote "what bloody places to get it" and "ugh." Because, hell, I have no clue.

Jason is still a cool guy, sorry bud:
"My friends and I talked about souls at lunch. What determines it and where it's located inside all of us. We all decided it was a mystery and should be left alone. Except for Jason who had to argue because he's Jason."

The beginnings of a poet are rough, okay?
"Call it a severe infatuation. I call it a shitty situation. To want to be wanted by the one you want, and all the lies that seem to haunt. So it seems that my heart and mind were lured, before any pain, this must be cured."
There's also a line in there that says, "Please hit me with a large freight train," but that's the only laughable line in that stanza. Now that I'm actually going through my old junk, I've realized how depressing most of them are.

"4-14-14 - THIS SUCKS THIS POEM SUCKS EVERYTHING SUCKS." I usually sign everything I write but that night, oh that night apparently I wasn't feeling that because of the seriousness of what comes next.
"No signature." Ooooooohhhh! Edgy.

I know most of this probably wasn't the horrible cringe-fest you were hoping for, but I can't seem to find my junior high journals, just my high school ones. If I find my junior high ones, I'll do this again. But for now I hope you got some sort of laugh from this, cause I know I sure did. Maybe younger you would've related to some of these, and maybe not. Regardless, I'm not that kid anymore, and I am incredibly happy about that.