"The stars are so big. The earth is so small. Stay as you are."

What does that mean to me? It is the essence of the messages I have received from society and my family: just blend in, don't really be YOU, try to fit into the box of what we deem "normal and acceptable." If you know anything about me, which some of you do and some do not, you know I am driven by MY vision, my values, my sense of the world. This does not mean that I have no regard for the welfare of others; on the contrary, my values demand that part of my purpose on this earth is to help others, to understand and, somehow, connect with the plight of each and every human being. I also do not believe that making everyone feel comfortable by hiding the truth of who you are or what is real serves them on any level. It only serves their desire to separate themselves from something they consider bad, immoral, unethical, ugly, or sinful. I believe that, somehow, we share in a collective conscious; that, on some level, each and every person's struggle is connected to our own.