Youthful Life: X

"It is not length of life, but depth of life." Ralph Waldo Emerson Death is a natural part of life but that doesn't make it any easier to handle. Death has been part of the human life cycle for millennia, and it's still the worst thing that people can experience. Death comes for all of us, and we can feel its inevitable aftermath as devastating. What is there to say about death besides that nothing and no one prepares us for the despair it leaves us with. It is so beyond the scope of our understanding that we malfunction just trying to wrap our heads around what it means. How can someone we love die? How can they be gone forever? How can I never speak to them, hear from them, or touch them ever again? For the rest of our lives? That can't be real. How can someone who has been part of all my days be absent from them for the rest of my days? It's not fair. It doesn't make sense. It's unbelievable. It is beyond belief. Things beyond belief do not ...

"Sometimes, how you ingest this idea of masculinity as projected onto you by the world could be the difference of life and death." Barry Jenkins We're bad with emotions , well most people that is. We don't know what to do with them. We keep them bottled up. We let them out in messy ways, usually accidentally. We're all over the place. We are emotionally unstable. Why? You tell me. Maybe you don't know, or maybe you do and you're not willing to share that truth with yourself. We are socialized in a myriad of ways (family/upbringing, friends, school, religion, media, etc.) to act and to not act. That is the impact of being taught to suppress your emotions. It might not have been direct but all the times you were told to stop being sensitive, to grow a backbone, to be strong, to stop crying, to get it together, to be man up, and the list goes on and on were the negative reinforcements of an ideology that asked you to shut down a critical part of your...

Truth - The Internet is at the exact same time both the best and the worst thing to happen to humanity. What a wonderful thing it is to be instantly connected to not only those that matter to you most but others all around the world with the touch of button, a few keystrokes, or a few swipes. Now many than ever it has become increasingly simpler to do truly marvelous things with the internet, the world wide web, and the technology surrounding them. With those advancements though have been the same problems, but also brand new ones darker than we ever could have imagined. All it takes to make or break people and their spirits these days is a quick type, text, and tap away. Anonymous we go.   "One of the most powerful lessons in life is to recognize that no one can give you power, and many people don’t want you to have it. You have to find the courage to seize it, own it and hold on" Shannon L. Alder Never read the comments. I've heard it over and over again, and yet...

The 20s are all about seeing things from a different perspective. Each and every one of us walks through this world differently. We all have difference experiences and carry all the identities that we've been dealt with. There's no way to separate who we are from what we do, say and view the world. It's a package deal. We have to learn to value people and their experiences (cause we have the power to decide whether people - their ideas, interests, opinions etc. - matter or not; yay social dominance). It's time for a wake up call in the form of a strongly worded letter. Dear white people ... this one's for you. *There's no need to have a "dear people of color" because you tell us exactly what you think of us every when we treat us like caricatures, devalue and stigmatize us in every representation known to man. This post, like all others is opinion. Just like I'm entitled to mine, you are entitled to yours ... read on if you want or don't - ...

The 20s are all about moving forward. There are so many things we do and say that hold us back. What are we afraid of ? What do we have to lose? What do we have to do to be better? My generation is one that wants to try it all out, experience everything, document it, and look good doing it too. There's been so much talk about what our limitations are, what we do wrong, and how we can improve, but it's all from those not part of our millennial generation. My generation will define itself. FOMO , an abbreviation for fear of missing out. Quite possibly one my generation's biggest contention points. Personally, am I nothing more than a classic case of FOMO. It is pretty much the entire essence of my being. It's the reason that I partake in six clubs & organizations, people upload pictures and didn't invite me, and nearly am incapable of saying no. I want it all. I want to be part of everything. I want to be noticed and featured. The fear of missing out truly is a...

The 20s are all about processing what goes on around you, and figuring out what role you play in every situation. No matter what, we are participants in our lives. Things happen, for better and most notably, for worse, but in all happenstances we take part. Whether we are active in what goes on, stand useless as bystander, are the perpetrator or the person who has been impacted - what we do or say (that if we say or do anything) affects us all. Regardless of whether how little you feel the aftermath, the repercussion are real for us all. This is race relations. Yesterday night I was in my residence hall room responding to emails for RHA (residence hall association) at like midnight, and it's been a crazy busy few days (physically strenuous, heavy lifting, tons of walking and stairs). The amount of exhausted I was cannot be even put into words, everywhere I went was falling asleep, public or not. I was just about ready to prepare for bed when of course, I zonked out (mid-email) ...

The 20s are all about going places. It's about getting from point A to B with some adventure along the way and as little ridiculousness as possible. Sometimes it's the destination and other times it's the journey. Either way, you learn something almost every time, but not always. Sometimes a drive is just that ... a drive. And when you mix nonsense with driving you get road rage. Let's hit the road. Things I Hate About Driving: 1) Slowpokes - I need you all to go the speed limit at least. Like I have places to go, people to see and stuff to do. Move bish get out the way if you're going to creep along like a sluggish snail. Ain't nobody got time for that. 2) Weather & Heat - When it rains, the wind blows, or the sun shines too bright people act like they're driving capabilities magically disappear. The foolishness just flood like the damn streets. Like get a grip, shut up and drive. It's some water, turn on your wipers, brace yourself and g...