Sharjeel B.
Photography by Vinisha Velmineti
If you’re reading this, live for yourself.
It’s hard. Now more than ever, it’s hard. We get caught up in everything around us so much that we lose sight of who we are. We get caught up in pleasing everyone around us. We get caught up in our careers. We get caught up in self-doubt. We get caught up overthinking. We get caught-
You’re a masterpiece. You're a beautiful sculpture of all your experiences. Each trial, each tribulation you go through is a meticulous stroke of unique beauty that only you possess. Shape yourself not according to the molds left by those around you; but using the tools of self-expression and creativity innate to you.
The people around us come and go, but we are forever with ourselves. If we sculpt ourselves to fit in someone else’s shoes, eventually, we won’t be able to fit in our own. And when those shoes get taken from us, what will we do?
The most important thing that I’ve learned throughout college is to live the way you want to live. Do what you want to do. Be friends with who you want to be friends with. Love what you want to love. If the people in your life want to ridicule you, so be it.
At first, dealing with that is the most difficult part. You question yourself, you question if you should do what you’re doing. It puts you in a fit of confusion that seems insurmountable- I promise you that it’s not. I promise that once you figure out what it is that you want, it is the most liberating feeling. You’re finally freed from the figurative shackles of society.
The same way that we’re our own biggest critics, we need to be our own biggest supporters. In a world where it’s difficult to find light, be the beacon you need.
Sharjeel B., Virginia Commonwealth University
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