Finding your voice in world that tries and suppresses it.

Very recently I have have found my voice. It has taken me a long time to get here but now that I am here I plan to speak out more and let others finally know what is on my mind and what I stand for.

We live in a world where we are continually pushed to fit into a mold. We are taught to be good little soldiers in the hope that it will alter the way we think and that we will become so complacent that we will just follow the status quo. Many of us will go through our lives thinking that this is okay never questioning it, others of us will question it but will never have the courage to change it, then there are the few of us who are willing to stand up and make a change even though the cost may be great. For many people, it is the fear of losing the things they love or the fear of going without or the fear of being judged or mistreated that prevents them from standing up and making a change. So the question becomes how do you find your voice and embrace it?

1. Well, the first step is to accept that fact there is always going to be some dick who is going to tell you that you are wrong or invalidate you. There are a lot of not very nice people out in the world and even though you are just finding your voice, they have already found theirs and not afraid to tell you why you are wrong and why you should follow their path. DO NOT LISTEN! You have the freedom to be whoever you want to be and it does not matter what they think. The sooner that you accept your haters the easier it will be to move on from them.
2. Figure out who you are. We grow up with our culture and if we are lucky our religion, but as we get older we need to figure out the other parts of our identity. These are things like our gender, sexual orientation, romantic orientation, religion, political views, all the other things that make us, well us. These things plus your past experiences shape your views and your voice. They make it stronger and more concrete, they are the things that give it more value, backing and most of all passion. Without passion, conviction, and data your words are meaningless.
3. Find your community. Going back to the last step after you figured out who you are, find people like you. They can help build you up and support you. Together they can make your voice louder or you can lead them in the charge. It is important to be part of a group and make connections with people and when your rights are threatened or the rights of a community are threatened it is important to stand alongside them and help build them up.
4. Find your confidence, self-love and realize that it is your life to live and that you need to go out there to live it. This is the hardest part of the whole process but you need to find your inner strength and courage because once you start speaking up and speaking your mind the people who disagree with you are going to start tearing you down. You need to make sure that you are strong enough to handle that.
5. Find your outlet. This can be art, hair color, fashion or for me, writing. Tell people who you are in whatever way makes you the happiest. Find a way to express yourself and tell people who you are and what you stand for. There are so many ways to do that and one way does not fit all.

I never thought that I would be writing this much, once I started I realized that I have so much that I wanted to say and share. I also want other people to speak up as well and share their stories, experiences and more than anything I want to see a change in our country. I am tired of corporations taking advantage of people, I am tired of people telling others how to live their lives or who to love or how to dress and more than anything I want us to start listening to science and treating our neighbors better. I am still trying to find the best way to utilize my voice to its full potential, speak out more and do more good because we need more people like that. However, we need more people in our country to realize that there voice matters and what they say matters. If you think no one is listening you are wrong, I am listening and I want to hear what you have to say that is one person but I can bet that there are a lot more people out there who are just like me.