Dear Team Me

If you are here, you are probably visiting because you read my Dear Teen Me letter.

If not, you should go read it ----> DearTeenMe.com


This was a very hard letter for me to write, but I knew it was the one that was supposed to be written. I don't really have a great blog post to go with this since I just want you to go read the letter, so instead I'm just providing some helpful info.

To Write Love on her Arms -  This was not around when I was a teen. Back then it was taboo to even talk about being depressed. It is nice to see a support group for other people who are depressed and to know that you are not alone.

As far as info for girls in abusive relationships...well...there is no magical website I can give you. I could give you the warning signs, but if someone is in the situation, will they listen?

I could prepare myself all I wanted, but what I needed was the confidence and the strength to know that the relationship I was in was not a healthy one. Years later I now realize how toxic that relationship was and I hope that anyone who reads my Dear Teen Me, whether a teen girl or  boy or even an adult will learn something from it and maybe even get some help themselves.

Now I leave you with this YouTube video that sheds a little lights on things.

The Punching Bag Fights Back Bullying and Homophobia

Usually I would have a Monday musings in which I would talk about what has inspired me this week with my writing and so on.  Well this kind of goes along with my musings, but more importantly this is a topic that reminds me why I started this blog in the first place.

When I first decided to blog I wanted to show how I overcame obstacles, the punching bag that was able to fight back all the things that fought against her throughout high school.  Then it kind of came to a point in which the blog then became all about my writing.  I was desperate to talk about my work in progress or running contests to get more followers and kind of lost tract of everything.

Then a tragedy happened:  The Rutgers suicide.  For those of you haven’t heard about this horrible act of bullying here is the shortened version:  a young college student at Rutgers was having an intimate moment with someone of the same sex in his dorm room.  His roommate decided to film it with him unknowing and then broadcast it on the Internet.  This caused the other roommate to became so depressed that he committed suicide.

Not only did this upset me greatly, but when I saw some people’s reaction to it I was even more shocked.  An acquaintance put a link to an article on facebook and then defended the roommate, saying “I’m sure he didn’t think that by doing that he would kill himself.”  Really?  So just because it wasn’t his intention for his roommate to die it’s okay to bully him in such a brutal way?  Did he realize how much it could affect someone, who is already so vulnerable?

Let’s face it, the first year at college is stressful enough.  You are just getting to know who you are as a person and a lot of times you don’t even know your roommate when you start school.  Having something like being outed on the Internet not only can hurt someone emotionally, but also professional.  What would have happened if he went for a job, they do a google search and that video pops up?  I don’t know why this guy thought it was okay to display his roomate’s sexual life for the world to see and then think that would be okay.  The only thing I can think of is extreme homophobia and if that’s the case then he’s the one who really has the problem.

Which leads me to my next point:  Homophobia.  For those who haven’t noticed my recent Adam Lambert obsession (why yes I do know that he is gay and doesn’t feel the same way about me, I’m SO glad you pointed that out), ANYWHOO a lot of people aren’t too happy with my new found love for Adam Lambert.  I started listening to his music more when a friend pointed me in the direction of him and said he might help out my science fiction inspiration.  (Note:  Listen to his song Time for Miracles and you may just come up with scenes for an epic intergalactic battle).  Immediately I got a lot of flack for this.  People would stop following me on Twitter or my blog.  I wondered what was going on and asked a friend about it and she said, “People aren’t comfortable with Adam Lambert, he’s just too over the top flamboyant.”

So..wait…I have to get this straight here, (ha straight).  Even though Adam Lambert has a voice that even the most hetero of men will admit is amazing, because of his sexuality people don’t’ want to hear about him?  Yeah that’s what it pretty much comes down to.  When did homophobia become okay?  If we keep telling people that it’s okay not to be okay with homosexuality then what’s to stop people from bullying people of a different sexuality?  Or even using demeaning words for people?  How about I don’t like machismo heterosexuality?  I don’t want to see the Jersey Shore guys walking around and demeaning women and flaunting their heterosexuality, but do you see as much of an uproar for that as you do for guys walking around with their rainbow flags?

What’s the point of all this?  The point is to be open, the point is to open your eyes and realize that bullying and homophobia is not something that should be ignored.  What can we do to help?  What are your thoughts on this topic?

Good or bad I’d love to hear your responses!