So I’m going through part two of the being broke stage. Not the “hahaha broke college student!”, no like the real living paycheck to paycheck, praying that your card goes through when I’m buying frozen meals and Ramen noodles, looking at part time jobs on Craigslist, thinking “well, maybe being a stripper doesn’t sound ALL that bad” kind of broke. And it’s hard. And it’s scary. And sometimes I think that this job doesn’t pay enough. But then I analyzed: what do I actually make?

If you haven’t seen this video, take a second:

It makes me think, what do I make? At first, I kind of scoffed to myself and joked “well, not a whole lot” until I realized, “wait, yes I do. I can and do make a WHOLE lot.”

I make people laugh. I make them think. I make their morning happier and for just one stupid second, I can make the thought of your late water bill or a sick kid seemingly disappear. I can make you cry, or make them want to change how they act.  I create, I innovate, I get stumped and work through problems.

I can make change happen. I can tell people to buy three hundred boxes of Hamburger Helper to feed the hungry, I can raise over $50,000 for children’s cancer research and I can bring justice to an unjust situation. All by opening up my fat trap and letting the words flow.

I try to make my coworkers love their job. I help everyone I can, even when I don’t understand the problem, let alone the solution. I make 30 hours fit into one day to make sure that everyone is taken care of, and then I go home and make my boyfriend and best friend happier than they were before I came home. I make dirty dishes clean again, broken hearts whole again and when words fail, I can make a chocolate cake that will dry those tears faster than you can make them.

It’s been tough as my best friends enter the workforce, going into careers that will make them incredibly well off individuals that will eventually make them well off families. It pains me to think of what I’ll have to do one day to provide my child with those same opportunities. It’s hard to make a smile when you hear the phrase, “Oh you will be able to go into whatever you want soon!” because you know what? THIS is what I want to do. I am fine digging into the Styrofoam of my Ramen noodle cup because at the end of the day:

I can make the world change with nothing more than a microphone and my words.