Hello in There
The Artist D, March 2015
Nobody believes a wild child. People look down upon eccentric teens and weird youthful creatures. Yet if they are consistent and bring it into adulthood they are taken slightly more seriously. Too many young people are taken as going through phases, fads and having whims. But who is to say that phases, fads and whims are not respectable true life changes? No one.
We ought to bond with young people more. We should ask how they are and mean it when we do. We should question why they are the way they are in ways that do not offend them into antagonistic response. We should say “Hello, hello.”
I think that if we had a rapport with them without looking down on them we may be able to ease them into being the people they really wanted to be.
Most importantly I think we should ask our up and coming generations if they would like to come out of the closet. It’s a personal experience of mine, but I wish someone would have asked me nicely if I was LGBTQ. The most devastating pangs came not from hiding in the closet but to find out that those who I loved most already knew about my little secret. I would have gladly pranced on out had someone just told me they knew and were OK with it. Their actions told me they were not OK with it. Their actions and words kept me hiding in the dark. Yet when I came out and they told me they already knew and were OK with it, I was ticked. They were waiting for me to be brave enough to say something. They could have been brave and said something.
It dawns on me that a large collection of my writings focuses on the treatment of our youth. I have always focused on growing up and the misfortunes of clumsily doing so. I don’t believe that I am obsessed or troubled by my childhood. I am troubled that others are still growing up in complete distraction of how it could actually be. It troubles me to think that most do not have a chance to form the protective perception that I have always had. It’s something I want to continually share. Without that perception they are often dooming themselves into vanilla trails and unfortunate cyclical adult drab.
There is also something to be said about drifting from true youth yourself. Aging makes us realize how important those childish years are. They are the most free or have the ability to be. It’s the biggest chance most people will ever have to experiment and become. It is the time to be indestructible before you have any inclination that you may not be.
Youth! The fountain of it.
Category: Transgender Body & Soul
About the Author (Author Profile)
The Artist D is a true raconteur and provocateur! He has been performing online since the mid 1990s. A relic from the cam show age before MySpace was any space. Author of In Bed with Myself, an autobiographical tale of transgenderism and Internet celebrity. Executive Editor of Fourculture Magazine and host of the Kawfeehaus podcast.Subscribe
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