Selina

"Sometimes writers write about a world that does not yet exist. We do it for a hundred reasons. (Because it's good to look forward, not back. Because we need to illuminate a path we hope or we fear humanity will take. Because the world of the future seems more enticing or more interesting than the world of today. Because we need to warn you. To encourage. To examine. To imagine.) The reasons for writing the day after tomorrow, and all the tomorrows that follow it, are as many and as varied as the people writing.
          This is a book of warning. It is a reminder that what we have is valuable, and that sometimes we take what we value for granted."
          
          -Neil Gaiman, on Fahrenheit 451. 
          
          Ironic that it's on the book ban list, isn't it?
          

"So they killed Cassandra first 
          cause she feared the worst
          And tried to tell the town
          So they set my life in flames, 
          I regret to say
          Do you believe me now?"
          
          - Taylor Swift,  "Cassandra"

You chose the role you created. You take control of your power, and the people hated you for it. At least, we thought they did.
          Why rally to cage the lion just so you could set it free and pretend it was what you wanted all along?
          Why hold our heads underwater so often that each breath you allow us to have feels like our last?
          Why try to be a hero overnight when we've already seen you as the villain of the story?

"Confidence is not 'they will like me.' Confidence instead is, 'I'll be fine if they don't.'"
          
          -Christina Grimmie 

"You'll change your name or change your mind
          And leave this f*cked up place behind,
          
          But I'll know, I'll know."
          
          -Roar, "Christmas Kids"

We're here
          Because we're here
          Because we're here
          Because we're here.
          
          (To the tune of Auld Lang Syne)

"As long as we don't die, this is gonna be one hell of a story."
          
          John Green, Paper Towns

"Alright, who f*cked  around, I wanna find out."

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be known to the public eye as an influencer, a life-changer, someone who is looked up to as I share my thoughts and talents, whatever it may be. 
          
          But I know there will be others who will criticize me for who I am or what I do. Even if I don't make stupid life-changing decisions knowing it's wrong. The smallest ripple could be the biggest tsunami and destroy what I build. Could I rebuild it or go into hiding forever?
          
          Maybe it's a good thing I hide behind an online persona.

Imagine celebrating something that someone close to you has lost. Imagine you're in a room and everyone is proud of an accomplishment, and partying and having fun,
          
          And your sisters and mothers and daughters are disappointed in you, for taking away their only chance to have what should have been theirs from the beginning.
          
          And not just them. Your friends who are poc, who are LGBTQIA+, who aren't cis white males who only care about themselves. 
          
          Imagine what they see in their Twitter and Instagram feed. They're mourning. They're angry. They're comforting one another. Hope is all they cling to now.
          
          Are you proud of yourself?