I wish that “normal” and “standard” would be changed in this world because it’s damaging to the people contributing to the system. Now, I mean this in more ways then one. We create a standard for people in their lives that if they haven’t met, they’re “different” or lesser than in some way. We, as people, tend to target vulnerable people, specifically young women, young lgbtq+ members, single moms, young kids, and young men. These young girls are fixed to see what the “ideal” is and young men don’t know what real women look like. All we see are magazine covers, celebrities, TikTok stars, etc. All of these people refuse to show their flaws on social media and these young girls looking up to them are fighting for an impossible ideal. We have to start talking about what real bodies look like for these girls and teach them that having flaws is okay. It doesn’t make you any less beautiful. As a young bisexual woman, I have known for my whole life that I thought the girls on my tv were pretty too. But, growing up in an extreme religious and republican household, that wasn’t possible for me. I was the girl who liked to go outside with my dad and cut firewood, and work on cars with him. I loved to read. 18 years later and I’ve still never told anyone. Young LGBTQ+ kids, especially ones who live in predominantly rural areas, get targeted really easily. When I was in high school a lot of people would ask me if I was gay and thought I was. I lost friends because of it. And worse for other kids, who lose their families, their houses, their pets, and the only life they’ve ever known, just for something that they don’t deem “normal”. It is so damaging for these young people and we need to learn how to be more accepting of people who aren’t like the standard. A lot of times, single moms get looked down upon. If her kids don’t have a dad she’s probably a floozy right? Everything in America always seems to be the woman’s fault. These women struggle and sacrifice every single day for their children to have a better life and we still judge them and look at them like we’re any better. No one is better than anyone. We need to treat people as equals. These young kids get it hard. In this new generation, we get exposed to things a lot younger than our parents did. Divorce is more common, you can find just about anything on the internet that you’re searching for. A lot of these young millennials having kids don’t really understand how to parent because all they know is they don’t want to treat their kids like their parents treated them. So they give them whatever they want and these kids sit on their phones and find things they probably shouldn’t be finding. There is a generation divide here and these children are going to grow up with a lack of social skills. Young men in this world are taught to be men. My brother was an emotional kid. He loved affection. he would to talk to people, read, hug, kiss, and smile. My father put so much pressure on him to be a man and do what he did. That’s exactly what my brother is now. He’s a man like my father. Instead of teaching these young men to hide their emotions and “be a man”, we need to support them being emotionally competent.

I’ve probably read hundreds of books in my lifetime. I’ve read books over 700 pages, under 100 pages, and from children’s books to classic literature. Out of everything I’ve read, my favorite book has to be The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This book was Written by Antoine during World War II. He was a French aviator forced to flee to New York and give up aviation following Germany’s invasion of France. The narrator of the book is an airplane pilot who crashes in a desert. He meets a little boy from a small planet who had left in search of a cure for his loneliness. While on his journey, the little prince passed through many different planets, experiencing for the first time the narrow-mindedness of adults. He meets a geographer who suggests he visit Earth. On Earth, the little prince meets an evil snake who offers to send him back to the heavens and a wise fox who tells him that the important things in life are only visible to the heart. While spending time with the pilot and telling him his stories, the little prince decides he must go back to his planet and back to a rose he is in love with. The pilot fixes his plane, and the little prince, bitten by the snake, falls to the ground. When he can’t find the prince’s body, he assumes he made it back to his home planet. The pilot lives on in life wondering about the prince and hoping one day he sees him again. This story is about the open mindedness of children. Children are often overlooked because they don’t have the knowledge of the world that adults do. But if some adults had the same mindset as children, the world would be a better place.

I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember. I take experiences I’ve had throughout my life and turn them into art through song or through stories. All my life my mother has had medical issues. When I was little, she had had a surgery and the doctor had done something gravely wrong; cutting in her where he shouldn’t have been. She continued to have many surgeries and many medical issues because of this and still does to this day. When I was around 13, after a recent surgery my mother had she developed what is called MRSA. It was severe and she was on death’s door. I didn’t see her for months because she was in quarantine and my father worked all the time so I was alone. I had a lot of time to think and sink into a depressive and low state. I decided to do what I had always done and poured some words onto a piece of paper. Growing up you hear many people talk about “sick” and what it means to them. I had taken my own experience with the word, and experiences I watched other people go through, and wrote a sort of free verse poem about it. It helped me a lot to write about the things that I was going through and I still continue to do it to this day. Reading my words helped my mother find hope and she fought for her life because of her children. She still continues to support my writing as I grow. A mother is someone completely irreplaceable for a child and for me specifically. I would not be here today if it were not for her and sharing my talents has helped my mother in ways I probably couldn’t imagine. I stand by her said, I defend her from anyone, and she is my best friend. She still struggles with her health and I continue to do everything and anything that I possibly can for her. I support her ambitions as she does mine since I found out she is also a writer and an artist. I believe it’s her that I got my passion from. We rely on each other, support each other and show up for each other. I’m going to attach the poem I wrote during the time she was in the hospital but I’d also like to paste a link down below of a recent piece I’ve done to show how our support of one another has pushed me to grow. https://docs.google.com/document/d/12MHhKNyY1g7HSl-F1I8f_9whrYh6Rnf0Ph1jitGCVpM/edit

Joy to me is self satisfaction. I’m a believer that unless you are satisfied with yourself that you won’t be happy. I also believe that just because you are satisfied with yourself, doesn’t mean that you should stop striving for goals. Joy is something that everyone should strive for. It seems hard a lot of the time when your life consists of work, school, and sleep, but there are many ways you can find joy in your life while not disregarding your obligations. In my life, I let my creativity flow. I can write or play my instruments and good or bad, it’s the process that is enjoyable. I make time to do the things I enjoy in life and it highly improves my mental health. I try to let out my creativity all the time in any way. In the summer, I paint outside for hours. It’s never anything specific, but it brings me joy to sit in the sunshine and let my hand guide the brush. I will play chord progressions on my piano keyboard or ukulele and let my ears tell me what I like. I’ll write an 80 page story with no idea where it’s going, but being happy that I’ve created something. No matter what I create with my brain, I can be satisfied with the outcome. Making joy a priority in my life has created an improvement in every aspect of it. Joy means being happy with yourself and your life.