Yelling at the World

Writers write things. Shocking, I know. We write to inform, to get people to think, to rally the base, to spark discussion, and all kinds of other reasons. Imagine for a moment you woke up and all of us had disappeared. We'd all be somewhere together watching the internet react to this probably. Then when we decided to return, we'd all write about those reactions and restore balance to the universe.

Writing is only part of what I do. One of my favorite things that I do is working with kids. Right now, I'm planning a seminar on public speaking for kids. I'm always quick to answer messages I get from kids or from parents asking me how to encourage their kids.

I contact legislators, attend events, speak at events, participate in seminars, give interviews, and generally move forward every day never knowing what the next day will bring. I manage all my social media stuff. I'm also my own secretary.

Something I do that the public doesn't see is communicate with a lot of high school and college students, both inside and outside my personal sphere. We discuss not only the issues we face politically, but some very real and very serious issues we personally face, many as a result of how society has failed us. Some choose to belittle our issues. Some choose to see us as nothing but a bunch of rebels. The truth is we are organizing and we are the future. If that makes some people afraid, it should.

Something else the public never saw was the time off I took over Christmas break to do some serious reflecting. I hate attention. That was something I had to deal with because if I wanted to make a difference I had to learn to take the attention. I had to empower myself.

So, you want to be a liberal, pro-equality, pro-choice, sex-positive, cisgender, feminist, atheist, teen blogger and activist?

Yeah, think about how lovely this is for my personal life. Most girls have been taught to be "nice girls" and keep their opinions to themselves. Most guys...I can't even. The comments and whispers just don't happen online and I'm a helluvalot smarter than a lot of people think I am. I've always had trust issues, but now I'm even more vigilant about watching my back. There are a lot of people who only want to be fans of Madison Kimrey, activist and blogger, not friends. There are a lot of people who want to use me as social capital. There are a lot of people who objectify me and/or make assumptions. But despite all this, I do have some great friends and I've learned that dealing with real life trolls isn't all that different than dealing with them on social media. Most you ignore and some deserve to be made an example of. 

So go ahead, judge me. Make assumptions about me. Write me off. Not only do I have words for that, I have actions for that.

As I've said before, I'd rather be one person's shot of liquor than everybody's cup of tea. You might not like my style, writing or otherwise, but like it or not this is me. I have two choices, I can be what other people want me to be or I can live my truth and be the change I want to see in the world. In both my public life and my private life, I've chosen to live the truth and be the change. And I'll continue to keep moving forward. I'll continue to be thankful for the many people in the public sphere who are working together to make a difference for the future of this country and for the few people in my private sphere who truly understand.