Throughout life one, upon being blessed with the time and comfort for self-reflection, considers their place in the world. One has numerous good and bad experiences and hopefully a myriad of experiences taking them outside of comfort zones. Proper self-reflective practices are the hallmark of an individual learning to be happy or already happy with themselves and their decisions.
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Regardless of the country from which you hail, this country puts institutions in place to socialize citizens to think a certain way. This certain way, at the best of times, can include teaching people how to harmoniously get along. This certain way, at the worst of times, can include teaching non-homogeneous populations to dislike each other and/or think of each other as less than. When one is born into the people most negatively put upon by a countries institutions, it can be difficult to impossible to feel at home in the place from which one hails. The feeling of being out-of-place never quite leaves your psyche.
Now one must consider “what should I be doing”? Based on one’s resources being able to truly implement the answers to the previous question is sometimes a pipe dream and/or fantasy. However, it is exactly the stuff out of which dreams are made. To deny oneself the privilege of personally seeking out ones dreams with every effort and action is denying ones purpose and often leads to a deathly boredom. To purposely systematically deny a large group of people the luxury of self-reflection by way of country wide institutions is one of the definitions of slavery and should be recognized as such. Understanding such and following the essence of oneself to pursue one’s purpose and dreams is a definition of freedom. Without being able to act freely, by first pursuing true freedom is an act we often neglect to recognize as we live, if we are not privileged enough to have been born in the free class ( < 1%, the one percenters). Knowing oneself is important so that one may pursue freedom and actually be free. Without knowing oneself one can not recognize the truth of their surroundings or situation. One may not realize one is trapped in a closet if the closet is equipped with enough distractions.