If you took time to label who you are, what boxes would you put yourself in? More importantly, do you feel comfortable closing yourself off with labeling yourself as specific and certain things? It is a lot to think about. We often wonder if the world around us sees ourselves how we want to be seen. Human instinct takes over when we meet new people. We try our best to figure them out as fast as we can. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s human, but to realize that making assumptions can be hurtful is the first step to broadening our horizon of acceptance.
There are the things that matter when getting to know someone, such as their likes, dislikes, interests, and goals. There are also things that matter less, like income, sexual orientation, religion, and age. Not to say these things are not important when getting to know an individual, but, do they really matter at the core of it? When connecting with another person, it means more to know their favorite color, how many siblings they have, and least favorite food, than to learn how much money they make.

I made loads of friends at Disney and I never cared to ask their age until we were very close. It surprised me to learn some were much older and some younger, but it never affected our friendship because when push comes to shove, what is on the inside is what I care about. I wish more of society felt the same. This idea could apply to a wide range of identities. Assuming gender and sexuality are among the biggest. It is hard to rewire our brains to see people with an open lens, but to make the world a more open and a safe place where anyone can be anything, I feel would make everyone happy. To begin this process of change, I plan on always challenging myself to be more open-minded. There are already so many individuals out there breaking down barriers and creating bridges that oversee differences through common similarities, I hope to one day join them in their mission for world equality. As I grow into my Peer Health Educator role, I want to be sure I can let those around me define who they are before societal norms and assumptions do. We all have a voice, we all have decisions to make. It is important to be yourself and feel comfortable doing so, as long as we also respect those who want to be themselves too.

Until next time, keep smiling. 🙂