Inspiration from Alexis Neiers

I had never heard about Alexis Neiers before. It was a coincidence that I happened to stumble upon her blog.

I am not the fan of any celebrities. Neither do I have the habit of following American news. I But I do follow certain celebrities. I follow them because I am attracted to their philosophy, rather than their appearance, or their performance. I started following Emma Watson 2 years ago, when I came across her interviews. I don't know much about her actually. What I only know was about her as a lead actress in Harry Potter. And she is modelling for People Tree, a fair trade company which sells clothes made of organic cottons. Though I read about her from limited sources, I could tell that she is not superficial.

Emma Watson is not the main person I'm going to discuss about here. But she was the one who leads me to know about Alexis Neiers. As the movie "The Bling Ring", which Emma is starring in, is now on cinema. I watched the trailer and then watched Emma's interview on playing the role Nicki in The Bling Ring. I had no idea what the whole story is about. The plot seems quite ridiculous to me, because I could not relate such situation in real life due to different cultural background.

First I typed "Bling Ring" in wikipedia. It eventually took me to the real criminal case on Bling Ring, instead of bringing me to the film. I was puzzled at first. Then I found the link to the film, and I learned that Nicki's character is based on Alexis Neiers. But that was the fictionalize version. Out of curiosity, I did some research about Alexis, and I found her on twitter. I saw her retweeted Dalai Lama's tweets. That made me grew more interest to know more about her. So I read about her on her website.

Alexis is someone around my age. She had undergone some sorrowful experience during her childhood and her teens. I am not going to be specific or elaborate on that. Some people label her as a "bad child" for the mistakes she had done. But her story inspires me somehow. Her life changed. And the change is because someone is willing to guide her through step by step, transforming her from a drug addict to sobriety. Alexis is courageous upon facing the mistakes she made in the past, and she has turned over a new leaf. What's more, she is willing to help people who are undergoing the same problems as she encountered in the past. I really admire that. What's more, her change gives us, the educators, the confidence that there is always hope. Every soul has the ability to be kind. There is no bad kid in this world. It is responsible for us, the educators, be it teachers or parents, to imbue ourselves with wisdom and compassion. With wisdom and compassion, we can lead every soul to brightness from the darkest end. We need to have courage, to encourage others!

I am glad that I have such teacher in my life. I used to be an aggressive, bad-tempered child, yet live in vanity. I used to be a hypocrite with tremendous ego. I was an ungrateful child, who often live in vexations and jealousy. I'm glad that my spiritual teacher is willing to take me as his disciple, and always there to guide me through, and setting me free from the sufferings in all his actions, all his words, and all his thoughts. :) Alexis' case reminded me about my teacher. Thank you Alexis. :)