I remember my first memories of grabbing the brightest red piece of crayon in the box and scribbling large crooked alphabets when I learned to spell my name on the walls of a house I didn't quite feel like I belonged by the time I was 3. I remember hearing chatters and buzzing noises of racist comments through bedroom walls that I didn't quite yet understood but felt a vivid sense of discomfort come 6. I remember walking pass the line of classrooms hearing the screams getting louder down the end of the line that housed the F-grade students next to the bathroom as I started to learn the cruel judgement and biases of the human nature by the time I was 10. Two decades later, I learn that we don't get a choice to decide what we consume in the first decade of our lives but thereon after, when puberty hits, that's when real "consciousness" will come alive. It's more than just learning about menstruation and erections when that time comes. I remember that excruciatingly awkward moment for both the boys and girls with that compulsory nurse visit to school you wouldn't miss for the world come the ripe old age of 11. Because she's going to be talking about sex for the first time. Truth is, it's more than just hormones and searching for your identity. So much of that "identity" or "self" was already built-in and tattooed in your subconscious mind the first 7 years with the influences around you. With all the repetition of the same words you learn. Going through the same traditions and rules year after year. The same routines and habits. Adopting someone else's belief-systems, and living within their space and limitations. I was extremely lucky. I would say, I've won the "Freedom-Lottery." I basically learn everything by contrasts and observations. I was surrounded by large diversity and all walks of life because since the day I was born, I never lived in the same household or saw the same classroom walls for more than 2 years. Which means I never got the chance to look up to anyone, look down on anyone, I simply saw things the way it is. Exactly for what it really is. There wasn't any over exaggeration of admiration for anyone nor resenting another human being for their differences. I embraced everything in my way with an open mind and heart. I looked back and I see it so clearly now. That something within you inside opens up when you come of age, and something becomes crystal clear. A nagging voice. An intuition. That something doesn't quite sit right. Everything you've ever seen, heard, done, and learned from those around you. And that's when the real battle and resistance starts. That internal war and conflict begins. The phenomenal news is, this "new awareness" come puberty (also more popularly known as adolescence) is the perfect time to find out who you really are. Don't just find that out when you're 65. Find out what you love. Who you want to love, and how you want to be loved. This is the perfect moment in time when you start to undo, unlearn, and create a version of you that's going to show up in this world in the future tomorrow. Your future. No matter where, and how you've started, we're all in this game of life together, so why not play it to your advantage? In spite of what anyone might say, do, or have an opinion about it. There's going be plenty of those in your playbook. Today, I'm here to let you know that everything's going to be alright. Because the gifts of wisdom, kindness, love, and inclusiveness always wins in the end.