Innocents.

A bike. A picture book. A bear. A doll.
Piled with the rubble and the rubbish. Coated in dirt, and dust, and blood and tears.
This is the evidence of the innocents.

A blanket. A music box. Coloured pencils and a ball.
Trampled into the mud, tossed aside and forgotten.
This is the evidence of the innocents.

Bikes and books and balls do not pick sides. They have no allegiance. They are merely objects, proof of a life once lived. But they hold memories, and feelings. They tell the story of the innocents.

Look at that bear. I had one just like it. So did you. So did they. Bears do not pick sides but are the confidantes and protectors of scared little souls.

Look at these things. Dirty and stained though they are they tell the story of laughter, love and fun. They tell the stories of picnics in the sunlight and stories in the dark, of scraped knees and bruised elbows, of hope and love. They tell the stories of the innocents.

They tell the stories of fear, and loss, and pain and sorrow. They tell of feelings that overwhelm but are not fully understood. They tell the stories of those who are losing their innocence. They tell the stories of those who have had everything torn from them with no understanding of why or how. They tell stories of lost homes and shattered dreams, of nightmares and hungry stomachs.

They tell the stories of the innocents.

To those who come after me

To Those Who Come After Me,

You. Yes, you, the young man or woman reading this. You. The phrase "because everybody else does" is no longer accepted on these premises.

I don't care about everybody else. Everyone else as a puppy? I don't care. Everybody else saw that movie? I don't care. "Because everybody else does" is no longer accepted on these premises.

Oh, I'm not saying no. I'm not saying yes, either. I'm saying tell me why you - yes, you - want this. Caught playing truant because everybody else does? Not going to fly. Why did you do it? Everybody else has those shoes, that bag, this laptop? Why do you want them? Yes, you.

I declare today that "because everyone else does" is bullshit. I tell you this not to make you mad. I tell you this to help you. Learn now that this is just a way of saying "I did this, want this, said this because I fear myself. I fear my own decisions. I am scared of not fitting in." So, "because everyone else does" is no longer accepted on these premises.

"Because everybody else does" is bullshit.
Why did you tease the kid in the playground, even though deep in your soul you knew it was wrong? Because everybody else did. Bullshit.
Why did you steal that shirt when dared to, even though you hated yourself for doing it? Because everyone else did. Bullshit.

You - pardon me, we - do these thing because we are scared of being ourselves. We are scared of standing out, of being the oddball, of being weird, the freak, the geek, the one that they all hate because we're different.

Well, "because everybody else does", you have reached your expiry date. No more will you make us cower in your shadow. No longer will you degrade and diminish our brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends. No longer will you have the power to make us be someone we are not. "Because everybody else does" is no longer accepted on these premises.

Today we learn a new phrase. "Because that is what I do." Today we stop allowing four words to control our lives. To those who come after me, this is the best advice that I can give you. Own your decisions. Choose your path. Be yourself. Because when you do what everybody else does you lose yourself. You hurt yourself. Yourself becomes ourselves and where's the fun in that.

You - yes, you - reading this, you are unique. You are special. You are the product of love, of science, of education, of religion, of experience, of late night arguments and early morning breakfasts. You are the point in time and space where millions of tiny decisions converged to create one spectacular human being, decisions that in their infinite banality created something incredible. You are the stuff of legend. You are the future of the universe and the end of the world. You are joy and hope, sorrow and sadness, tomorrow and yesterday all rolled into one.

You - yes, you- are something wonderful.

You are not everybody else.

Stop trying to be. It goes against the very make up of your DNA.

Be you - yes, you - in all your spectacular, muddled, crazy glory.

Because "everybody else does" is no longer accepted on these premises.