It is no doubt that we live in a very divisive world at the moment. Tensions are high on all fronts; sometimes it can feel like “being you” is not an option. To some, it may even feel like you need to act like a totally different person with a name that doesn’t feel like your own to get by. Many of us walk around with these personas we put up for society to see and welcome often at the cost of sacrificing aspects of ourselves to meld into the crowd and be accepted.

In this current climate, it can really feel suffocating to be truly yourself especially when the real you is not something that is necessarily expected or wanted by mainstream society. It can feel very “othering” to try and be yourself, to take an interest in the unconventional, or to act how you think is right because of the backlash you may receive from the prying eyes of the majority. This phenomenon seems to always strike the LGBT+, BIPOC, and other marginalized communities the hardest. It has been described as something akin to always being on the run and never being allowed the opportunity to catch your breath. It can feel truly helpless at times but it is important to remember that your life is yours alone and society should not and can not hold you back when it comes to living your truth. But what does it mean to your life your truth?

It means to live your life as authentically “you” as possible. It means you should take interest and pride in your hobbies, yourself, and your accomplishments. It means that there is not a single person that can ever be more authentically you than yourself. You are a collection of events and experiences that no other person has ever been through in the same way and in the same fashion as you. You are uniquely you and should live by that truth. The truth that you are unlike any other person that has ever existed and you should not let anyone hold you back from being the living testament of your own existence.
I implore you to go out and seek what makes you happy and bring your unquestionable unique truth to the world. So go fight for what you think is right, go pursue that hobby you always wanted to get into, go ahead and change your name and live how you have always wanted to be. Go and show the world your uniqueness for the ones who never had the chance to. Go and live your truth.