blog.mjb.im

Being open minded is easy and healthy. I spent years of my life in high school and early college rejecting new ideas and closing off to progressive ideology. I would laugh at people who identified as non-binary, or refer to transgender people as “it” because I was a huge shit-spewing asshole. It was a sad time in my life, looking back, and I was absolutely on-track to have been one of Trump's biggest fans.

Thankfully, I did a complete 180 over the last decade. I was always told that I'd become more conservative as I grew up and had to be a member of society and pay taxes and whatnot. Well, I pay taxes now, and I want those taxes to fund socialized medicine and give everyone the physical and mental healthcare they need, while spreading the word of acceptance for everyone. (Not to mention that I'd happily pay more in taxes to fund said healthcare.)

When I'm met with something I don't understand, I have found how much easier it is to accept it than to reject it. “Oh, cool” is much nicer to say on a daily basis than “what is wrong with these people?”. You identify as something I'm unfamiliar with? Cool. If that is how you feel comfortable, I'd love to learn more and show you the respect you deserve. It takes hardly a modicum of effort on my part to accept something. You don't even have to read deep into it – just accept it, and let others feel validated. The flip side is to put in the energy – the negative energy – of rejecting it. It is taxing on your soul, and wages that same tax on others. Lose-lose.