happy 10 year unofficial aroversary to me <2
around that same time 10 years ago, i had to do a school project outlining my 10 year plan for the future. in the midst of figuring out who i was, that seemed like such an impossible task. it was like staring down the barrel of a future that was getting more uncertain for me each day and being expected to somehow know who i wanted to become. who at age 15 really knows what they want out of life? 7 of those years were going to be school for me anyway.
but i did the project, and those 10 years came and went, and all things considered, i'm much happier than i was back then. it was scary to figure out who i was. it was incredibly isolating to be aro in 2014. sometimes, it still is. by and large, i've gotten lucky with the people i have in my life. but i also know that an aro future is one that must be built from scratch with your own two hands. i'm more confident in my aro identity now, as time, maturity, and community are wont to do. but even more importantly, i don't fear that uncertainty as much anymore.
i draw strength from knowing how much things have changed in the past 10 years. my first year in college, on several occasions i spotted the same person on the bus with aro and ace pins on their bag, but i never had the chance to stop them and say hello. it was the first time i didn't feel alone. i think about them whenever i wear my own pins and patches out in public, and i wonder if i've been that person for somebody else. that reminder that we are not alone, that you will not have to hide who you are forever, that aromanticism is something to be proud of. life is cyclical like that; be the out and proud aro you wish to see in the world. build your own castle.
that's all for my rambling thoughts on 10 years. i hope if 15 year old me saw me now, they'd be overjoyed. if you're a young aro, know that you can be whoever you want to be. your life is yours, you were born whole, and there is nothing anyone can do or say to change that.
do i get a senior discount for this?
