I'm really glad people are actually reading my blog because I honestly didn't expect anyone to. I'm doing this for myself because writing is really the only way I can properly get down my thoughts. I have all these confusing questions and ideas in my head and I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one.
As a teenager you sometimes forget that you do matter. Many people don't take you seriously and won't listen to what you have to say, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't say it. Even if you feel like you're talking to yourself at least you're getting these thoughts into the universe. And a lot of the time when I do get a chance to say what I have to say I can't get my thoughts straight and end up seeming like I don't know what I'm talking about. Which just reiterates this idea in adults heads that teens talk out of their ass and that's exactly what I don't want them to think. It makes everything so frustrating because I do know what I'm talking about. And if I don't I'll admit it, but still state my opinion. Just because I don't know everything about a certain topic doesn't mean I can't have an opinion on it.
I just have so many thoughts I can't put them together and have them make sense in a conversation. That's why writing makes it so much easier because I have time to think out what I'm trying to say. Even though I'm a teenager doesn't mean my opinions don't matter. Because my opinions are the future. And if we don't get a chance to state our opinions what kind of future will we have?
Our generation is unlike any other. We live in a technological era. We have information at the tip of our fingers. If there is something I want to know all I have to do is type it into Google and have the answer in a second. If there is something I don't understand I have the ability to research it and find out both sides. I don't have to rely on books or news articles that may be only one sided. I have the freedom to have opinions, where people in the past didn't even have that.
We are also a generation seeking change. We are finally starting to have a voice where younger people never have before. We are more openminded than past generations and are learning acceptance of all people, races, genders. We understand that everyone is different, yet we all share one common interest. We are all humans. We all live, breathe, and eventually die. So while we are alive we want to live.
And sometimes we don't live the way other people want us to and that's okay. Ayn Rand believes the ultimate goal in life is to find self happiness. That sacrificing and suffering for other people in neither respectable or necessary. And when you think about it as long as you're happy, that should make others happy as well. We shouldn't live for other people, but for ourselves and the way we feel is right. There is not only one way to live.
We want to experiment and learn. And the way we learn is through our mistakes. We mess up. A LOT. But we keep trying because eventually we'll figure it out. We might get high, which our parent's don't approve of or understand, but it opens our minds. It helps us think outside ourselves. And we don't always want to listen to our parents because sometimes they are wrong. Just because they are older, doesn't always make them wiser. And while I want to respect them, I also want to challenge them. I want them to see things the way we do. I asked my grandparents if I married a lesbian would they come to my wedding... My grandpop told me to not even waste an invitation on him. While I know if that ever did happen they would learn to accept it and come, but how can they flat out deny my happiness just like that? And I know it's the way they were raised.
They were raised in an era where blacks and women were still fighting for their rights. The thought of a biracial marriage was unheard of, let alone a homosexual one. They were taught to be seen, but not heard. They weren't allowed to have ideas or thoughts at all. Teenagers and kids weren't really seen as people. And that's absolutely not how I want my children raised. I want my kids raised in a world of acceptance and love. A world where you have a voice no matter your age. There is so much hate in this world and it's because people don't always accept other people as they are. And this world won't be possible if our generation continues to be silenced and subordinated. If we aren't heard, nothing will ever change and the world is in need of some serious change.
That's why it's so important to have our voices heard. To have opinions, to do research, to learn. We aren't just stupid kids. Because the more we know and understand about the world, the more power we have to make it better. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." In stead of asking why somebody didn't do something about a situation, realize you are somebody.
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