To Everyone, From Me

Dear World

Dear World,

I'm not quite sure exactly who I am, or exactly what I want. But then again, is anyone? There are three things in my life that I am positive of:

1. I want to change the world for the better.
2. I deserve a great love story.
3. And so does everyone else just like me.

I have known these three truths for as long as I can remember, and the three are interconnected, one not existing without the others. I'm not hiding them - I'm just not saying them out loud. But is there a difference? Regardless of if there is or not, I'm saying it now: I'm gay. Surprise, Mom. Surprise, Dad. Maybe you've seen it by now, maybe you haven't, but now it's out there. 

I've wanted to be an author for a long, long time. At first, I didn't know the reason, but at some point between the ages of seven and nine, it finally clicked - I wanted to make other people feel the way I felt when I read. I wanted to make people laugh, I wanted to make people cry, but most importantly, I wanted to make people smile. Those reasons are still deep-set, but as I've grown up, they've changed and evolved. I read more and more, and finally began to see characters that reflected me in the books I read. The first time I saw a gay character in a book was when I was ten years old, and that year, everything finally clicked. I want someone else to feel that way - to see themselves in a character in a story that I write. I want some kid sometime in the future to feel at peace with who they are. I want to change someone's life for the better. I want to help people. And one day, I will. I'm sure of it. I'm not confident in a lot of things, but I am confident in this.

And because I know that sometime in the future, maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe ten years in the future, I'll come back and look at this, a message to myself: Don't give up. No matter where you are, no matter who you've become. Keep trying to find that love story. Keep trying to help others find theirs. Keep trying to change the world for the better.

And because there's got to be someone out there reading this and thinking that I won't make it, that I'm dreaming too big or too much: I will do it just to prove you wrong.

And because I've got to wrap this letter up and I still have so many thoughts (my username is a_maze_of_thoughts for a reason), I'll end the same way I started - with three things.

1. I will change the world for the better. And I'll do it by writing, but even more so I'll do it by helping others.
2. I deserve a great love story.
3. And so do you.

Love, a_maze_of_thoughts