I’m Coming Out |A Post on Treating People (And Ourselves) Cliche|

When I was youger, before I understood or had learned much about sexual idenity, I wondered if something was wrong with me. I got along better with my guy friends and had few girl friends. I was also strongly passionate about defending women and women’s rights, and in general I just didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere.

I’m Coming Out |A Post on Treating People (And Ourselves) Cliche|

Yesterday, I was reading a book on writing about character types and I found mine.

Her relationships with women are important but far and few between, many of her friends male. She has both a masculine and feminine side, and isn’t all about the “stay at home mom” but also not all about the “career woman” title. She’s most content in nature, is passionate about women’s rights, and proving herself to guys. She isn’t afraid of her own death but of the death of others. She struggles to fit in.

Paraphrased from the book “45 Master Characters”

I’ve talked about this before, but I have been asked if I was gay because I have short hair and “you’re different.”

I’m realizing that we as a culture easily slip into the world slapping labels on people.

A few labels that would describe me….

Pastor’s kid, author, Sherlocked obsessed, slightly hippie slightly emo, daughter, big sister, blogger, bookstagrammer, nature child….and the list goes on

When we fall into idenifying a certain way and holding onto those labels as deciding who we are, we fall short of celebrating our differences. We like to try to figure out why people act a certain way, why they make choices, why they have chosen certain lifestyle choices and therefore give them cliche and overused labels. I’m not here to talk about your sexular identity, I’m here to talk about labeling others.

Listen readers: I’m coming out — as myself.

I’m me. I’m dorky and weird and a nature child and I look sixteen. I spend a lot of time at home but only becaue I love my family so much. I’m a counselor at heart. I love people — a lot. Loving people is my hobby and passion and the reason I live. My favorite show is Sherlock and I read every genre possible. I love exercise and talking good mental health and just talking in general.

And my tendacies, how I dress, who I am — these do not have to define me or shape me into a cliche overuse label the world desires to slap onto me. And you don’t have to let it either. Do you keep yourself defined to your labels? Are you who you are because of conviction or another’s assumption’s?

Inside is a desire to belong and sometimes holding onto labels, gives us that, but in the end if we only keep to these names as deciding factors, we won’t be happy. Not really. We can’t. I can’t allow being a pastor’s daughter, to define every choice I make — I am so much more than that. When we wrap ourselves around a certain label, allow it to be our worth, when we choose to become only as much as our label, we walk a dangerous line.

We need to be passionate about seeing each other an unique and precious. We need to let down the judgement. We need to be open to being who we were created to be regardless of what the world has labeled us….or even what we have labeled ourselves.

“Labels are devices for saving talkative persons the trouble of thinking.”
― John Morley

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