Self Discovery Archives - Page 7 of 13

How Moving out Helped me Heal

By : Al Pim July 19, 2020 Comments Off

Living in a toxic household comes with many things. You feel like you can never trust anyone; like you can love or be loved; like you don’t deserve anything. You feel stuck. You try to find places and things to make you feel safe. For me, it was writing. I could create any world I wanted where the hero would face the same problems I did but always came through at the end. The main character became my role model. She would go through everything I went through: abusive parents, a toxic household, feeling left out at school, being in the closet and, many other things. Unlike me, my main character would be able to overcome these obstacles. It was something that I longed for but couldn’t do. I felt

Navigating LGBT+ Representation in Media

By : Audrey July 18, 2020 Comments Off

There’s no doubt that good LGBT+ representation, in basically any form of media, is still hard to come by nowadays. Being part of the community, I tend to cling onto whatever LGBT+ related movie or television show I can get as most of us do. Which can sometimes be a problem as I have to bear witness to all the ways an LGBT+ related story can be poorly executed. It’s often the same story repeated over and over again: coming out, facing backlash, finding a support system, and getting a partner. Yes, this is a very common experience that LGBT+ individuals face, but it’s also an extremely safe story to tell. The LGBT+ character, in this case, is most likely to be white, cis, and male. The piece of media

My Family Was Ready to Communicate, but I Wasn’t

By : Adrian July 15, 2020 Comments Off

Regard this statement as fact, rather than with pity: I have always been the outlier in my family. While every child feels like this at some point during adolescence, it seems to be a stronger feeling among those that grew up in the 90s until now. This stronger feeling must be provoking stronger actions if the complaints from parents and older siblings are true: teenagers and children today isolate themselves more than previous generations. Over the years, the stereotype of an angsty, explosive teenager among an otherwise friendly suburban family has evolved into a teenager that simply doesn’t express themself at all. Said teen’s family is completely out of the loop, unsure if their child is depressed, angry, wondering if they have any interest in the world at all. The

7 Ways You Can Respect Gender Identities

By : Mariasha Schtroks July 10, 2020 Comments Off

In a study done by the Williams Institute (2012-2017), an estimated 1.4 million US adults identified as transgender. Since that study, the LGBTQI+ community has continued to expand. An ever-growing number of people openly identify differently than their assigned gender. As a result, it is imperative that we actively inquire as to what people identify as. The more we do so, the more we will be able to respect the identity of those within our lives. Below are seven ways that you can respect people's gender identity. Ask people what their pronouns are. When we ask people what their pronouns are, we demonstrate that we respect and support their individual identity. Asking about pronouns is simple. You can simply introduce yourself to people by stating your name and pronouns, after

How my Fear of Rejection Deterred me from Self-Discovery

By : Caroline Whelley July 5, 2020 Comments Off

Over the years, attempting to discover my identity in a heteronormative society has been difficult, to say the least. I could attribute this to tons of things, but internally it was due to my anxiety and constant existential questioning, along with a severe lack of self-esteem. Today, I still haven’t even arrived at a concrete answer, since it’s hard for me to trust myself, but I think that it’s okay to keep questioning. The trick is that I need to be compassionate and patient with myself. Currently, I identify as asexual, aromantic, and agender, but I still question whether this is where I’ve landed, or whether this is just a stepping-stone on my path. For a good portion of my life I believed I was a straight cisgender person because

How I Discovered What Being Gay Was

By : Jacqueline Peyron June 24, 2020 Comments Off

(Even If I Am Bi) I started questioning myself in fourth grade. We were lining up after recess and there was this incredibly cute girl I was friends with. I swear she was the cutest girl in the fourth grade. Anyways, our lines were close to each other and we were talking while the teacher was making sure no one had hidden in the bathroom. Once the teacher finished, our lines started moving and I am telling you, the sun hit her face so beautifully and everything started moving in slow motion. The rest of the world blurred and I heard nothing but my own heartbeat and breathing. Before I knew it, I was leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. Then my line moved. I caught myself and

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Category: Self Discovery