Labels. Yes, those pesky things that follow you around almost everywhere you go. If you're black, white, straight, or gay. Those damn things seem to never go away. My whole life I've been labeling myself, because that what society expects of me. I never knew that the greatest freedom would come from shredding those words.

I try to not play the victim, but sometimes I need clarification that everything I've been through is valid. That my whole life's aspirations as a cancer survivor, as a victim of abuse, as someone who followed his heart just to have it torned. I have, in the most humbling way, been through hell and back. And the fact that I can admit that, and carry my weight say's everything. Also, being attracted to the same- sex, is the least of my concerns at this point. Think about it? I live in one of the most progressive states in the Union, I cannot be fired from my job because of who I am, and I have a roof over my head . I graduated from High School with decent grades, and had almost dropped out. Why? Because I needed too learn more about myself. I was 16 at that point in my life, and four years later at 20, I'm still gatheringmy dreams. DO I want to become a Psychologist? Do I want to study politics, and find A solution to the most damning issues of this generation, and plus some? Or do I want to learn about the cell and all of it's manifestation.

The point I'm making is that, rather you're black, white, gay, straight, a women, transgender, or a man- doesn't matter. Each and every single one of us are born, we bleed the same blood, we cry the same tears ( rather you admit it or not9). We, in an essence, was the sperm cell that won, and we are out here everyday working our asses off. We all clock in too work, or we live peacefully as a retired veteran of our respected field. I think of it like this- labels are words that are slapped onto us by others, because it's easier to cateroigize one another. It's an evolutionary byproduct from our earlier days before civilization. Humans are wired to classify things (Grocery shopping for example). It's easier. It takes much more work too actually search for something when it's random, even when we know what we want. Grouping people together literally destroys any sense of human interactions.. Take an example; say you're walking down the street and you see a group of buff men just hangin out, nobody's gonna adnit it; but that proably would scare us for whatever reason. Now, if you don't know them you're body would ignite a "fight or flight" reaction based on stereotypes portrayed by the media, or our own personal experiences with "buff men".. However, what if those buff men were white? Mexican? or even gay? The point is simple; the cons do outweigh the pros when it comes to labeling people.. you may have your own opinions on the various groups of individuals that inhibit America.. but indicually you may like, or even love those particularly people and wish them the best.. You may even try to fit in with these groups, because they seem "cool", or you may like something about them that could help you benefit in your own life (buff men could help you tighten up, LGBTQ could help with your sense of fashion, etc.) But never, ever fall for a stereotype. Nobody likes to just be a cliché (The African American female friend, or the guy with classes).

Labeling, in my best judgement, has ruined American society. That may sound extreme, but America is a individualistic nation. We strive for the ideas of capitalism and fight for what's ours.. we can all live peacefully, and strive for perfection without the need for competition (which is not such a bad thing.) As a society, we would be better abled if we came together, to help the economy, political process, and even our own personal everyday life's if we dropped the label's. We are all human.. Not too say that we would all be perfect, and everybody gonna get along-- that's far from the truth. But in this chaotic world, dropping our "names" could help each and every single one of us get a better sense of personal autonomy, help develop our own likes and dislikes.