Miles to Go (20 page)

Paging Miley Cyrus

W
e made three stops for the book—New York City, Los Angeles, and then home to Nashville. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Like I said, I’ve done other types of tours—but would this be the same? Would the fans wait in line to buy a book? Apparently, yes. When I got to the New York store, the line was out the door and around the block. It was crazy!

At one point, before they let people in, I peeked out the window that looked down on the street. There were fans lined up for blocks, and each one was holding my book. Some were reading and smiling. Others were leafing through the pictures. But ALL of them were excited about a book that I wrote. It was kind of one of those great moments when you realize that there is a lot of good you can do in this world. I’m not saying that my book is going to single-handedly stop illiteracy, but if I got one of my fans to read who wouldn’t have before, that’s pretty fantastic. Those are the moments I really thank God for
Hannah Montana
.

Doing the signing in New York and another one in L.A. had been pretty great. But coming home to do one in Nashville was the icing on the cake. It felt like coming full circle,the same way it had felt to film the movie in Tennessee. This was my chance to share with my town all the reasons I loved it. To really show people how growing up in Nashville had helped make me the person I am today. How the city is always in my heart and always keeping me grounded—no matter where I am. I had written it all down. Everyone could know now, and I was so excited.

The store in Nashville was smaller than the other two had been, but I’m pretty sure the crowd was bigger. And rowdier.
(No surprise! Yee-haw, Nashville!)
People showed up that I never thought I’d see again. One of my old teachers was there. A girl who had gone to my school told me she had been bullied too. Another group of kids showed up from one of the organizations I volunteer for. Their joy and love were overwhelming.

Before I knew it, the signing was over.

Remember how I said I like to stay busy? Well, that day was a perfect example. Not only was I doing the signing, I was going to make a surprise appearance at a Nashville movie theater for a screening of
Hannah Montana: The Movie
. That meant a whole new round of butterflies in my stomach! What if the audience hated it? So you know what I did? I ordered up some good ole Southern comfort food—chicken and dumplings— and sat down for a meal. I’m sure I was a sight!
(No one gets in the way of my chicken and dumplings!)
All around me people were getting ready—dresses got brought in, my makeup team arrived, and I just sat in the middle, chowing down. I admit, stuffing your face full of food right before you are supposed to stuff
yourself
into a fancy dress might not be the best idea, but hey, those dumplings did the trick. I was energized and ready, and by the time I stepped onto the red carpet . . . the butterflies? They were long gone.

Hopefully Not the Last Song

Y
ou know how I’ve said I don’t know what I want to do in the future?
(Why do you think I have a list of 7 things I want to be when I grow up? I can’t narrow it down!)
Well, I know that movies are definitely a part of it. Filming the
Hannah Montana
movie had been such an amazing experience. Being with my fellow cast members through those months and then getting to see all that work pay off when the movie premiered? That was fantastic. There was so much of Miley Cyrus in Miley Stewart and Hannah Montana that if it had tanked, I would have kind of felt the audience didn’t like me. But they did! So all that hard work—the hours of repeating the same scene over and over again—was worth it.
(Seriously, y’all. I think I can do the Hoedown Throwdown in my sleep.)

But filming
The Last Song
was a whole new experience. I was working with a new character— someone totally different from Hannah or Miley Stewart. All the lessons I had learned filming the TV show were going to have to come into play again— getting into character, finding the voice I wanted, feeling the emotion. But whereas I have had years to do that with Hannah, I was only going to get months to work on
The Last Song
.

This was a Nicholas Sparks movie. AND he had written it with me in mind.
(No pressure!)
I wanted to make sure that this was the best performance of my life so far. Luckily, I had a pretty great group of people to work with...and Tybee Island. Have I mentioned that place before?
(Kidding! You know I love it there!)
From the moment I walked onto the set, I felt like I was Ronnie Miller. She is a tough girl struggling to find her place in the world, and I grabbed on to that. And the best part was that everyone involved grabbed on to their parts. We became this tight little family there on Tybee Island. My co-star, Liam Hemsworth, and I would film a scene on the beach and then, as soon as the director called Cut, I’d be jumping in the water, splashing around. Like I said, Tybee is a magical place. I think being there, we all felt like we were getting this little break from reality.

I was so incredibly sad when filming ended. I hated saying good-bye to my new family. But I have such amazing memories from my time there. I wrote some fantastic songs and had some unbelievable moments.

Like when, after a long day of shooting, we all headed into the tiny town to grab food. And of course, the magic and emotions were getting to me. We sat down to eat and then noticed a band was playing. I sat there for a while, just enjoying the music and feeling like for once, the world had stopped spinning so fast. And then someone called out my name and before I knew it, I was up there, singing along! In this restaurant on an island off the coast of Georgia! How random? But it was moments like that, that made
The Last Song
such fun. You never knew what the day would bring. Sometimes horrible storms would come in, and we’d have to stop filming. Other days it was so sunny and beautiful, all you wanted to do was sit on the beach.
But I guess that is sort of what life is—a series of storms to weather before the clouds clear and the skies turn blue. And if you can learn to appreciate them both, you’re in for a pretty sweet view.

Living the Dream

I
don’t act or sing for awards. I don’t do it for the money. Those things are nice benefits of my work, but they don’t drive me.

I do it all for the passion of the art. I love making music, performing, and bringing something special to the people who listen and watch. Stevie Wonder is blind, and it doesn’t matter if his awards shine like diamonds or are dull, dark rocks, so long as he loves his music. Beethoven still made music after he lost his hearing. When you take your senses away and still love what you’re doing, that’s when you know it’s you calling.

* * *

Although I know I’m earning a lot of money, it goes into some mysterious account somewhere and doesn’t really affect me. I’m just doing the work that makes me happy. Pappy always said, “Love what you do for a living and you won’t have to work another day in your life.”

I don’t have a big fat wallet or credit cards to buy whatever I want. It’s one benefit of being a child star: that later on, when I do have access to the money, I’ll be able to look back at this time and know that I was happy following my dream without material rewards. I hope I won’t need that lesson, but I’m glad it’s there for me.
At the end of life, all you have is what you felt as you were going through life.
Pappy said this, and now that Pappy’s gone Dad says it, too. You don’t have cool bags and a list of parties you were invited to. Press clippings, even music albums: none of the achievements or material things matters in the end. You can’t take them with you. What really matters, and what you have in your heart at the end of your days, is the love and joy you lived and gave.

People sometimes ask me if I feel like I’m missing out on having a normal childhood. Do I ever think about the what-ifs? Would I do anything differently if I could do it all over again?

After all I’ve seen (the hardest childhoods) and all I’ve experienced (living my dream) it would never occur to me to dwell on what I might be missing. I know that I’m not going to a real school. I’m not attending homecoming games or a prom. I can’t go to a movie without being recognized and all that entails.

Yes, there are fun parts of being a normal teenager that I haven’t experienced and never will. And sure, there are a lot of days when I don’t want to wake up at 6:30 every morning.
(I'm sure the same thing would happen if I went to school.)
There are days when I don’t get enough sleep and don’t want to get up at all. Sometimes the set feels like a prison. There are certain sacrifices I am making. And there are sacrifices my family is making for me. In the quieter moments, which are few and far between, I think about what I’m missing. I wonder, but I don’t wish. It’s all worth it when I watch an episode of
Hannah
on TV, or listen to a cut of a song that captures what I wanted to say, or play my new CD for a child in the hospital. The good outweighs the bad. It isn’t right to complain. I don’t. I can’t. I can’t imagine holding on to the negative when there is so much that is great in my life.

I found my dream early. I’m living it. Lots of people find their dreams. I think the only way I’m different is that my dream just happened to come true before I entered high school. I feel grateful. I know how fortunate I am. I’m not so naïve that I think any dream is achievable for any person in any country on this earth.
But I do know this for certain—that you’ll never find your dream if you don’t reach for it as far and as high as you can.