Labels

We live in a society where everything and everyone must have a label. Young. Old. Popular. Loner. Intelligent. Stupid. Straight. Gay. Empathetic. Apathetic. Just plain pathetic. We like to put people in their little boxes and we like to organize them. I like to think that this gives people a sense of control over others. If we know something about someone else, something that when talked about is like a shooting a bullet into their soul, we use it to our advantage.

Have you ever thought something when you were younger? And then all of a sudden you read something like it in a book, or see it in a movie or on T.V.? That happened to me when I started to watch Game of Thrones. In the series, there's this family of nobles: the Lannisters. All are said to be rather blessed with good looks, wits, golden hair, and they possess a vast fortune. However, one was born that didn't get much of anything... well, except for the wit as sharp as any sword. Tyrion "The Imp" Lannister. Born as dwarf and having his mother die birthing him, he was an outcast. His noble name saved him from a worse fate, but he was still scorned by society; especially by his own family. During a conversation with Jon Snow, the bastard son of the Lord of Winterfell, he gives him the same advice I gave myself as a young child, he just puts it a lot more eloquently. "Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you." In other words: embrace you what makes you different. Don't hide from it. People will always try and use it against you, but if you turn their weapon into your armor, then they can never harm you. I think that this is an important lesson for people to learn, especially young people. Shame that this is in an "adult" book.