Guest Writer: Life Lessons From Star Trek TNG

I’ve recently been re-watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and am continuously impressed by the themes and topics the TV show covers.  In “The Outcast” (season 5), the Enterprise assists a species that no longer has gender, but now and then, someone is born that associates more with female or male. These people are bullied and abused until the authorities take them away to undergo psycho-therapy to “fix” them. This episode aired in March of 1992. The sentiments expressed are very much a reflection upon those who would oppress the gender identity of individuals today, 23 years later. Of course, I’m talking about the LGBT community. When will the archaic thoughts and treatment of people who are different stop resulting from fear? When will it become the norm and commonplace to treat everyone from a place of understanding, kindness, and compassion?

In the episode, Soren, a member of this genderless race identifies as female, falls in love with Riker, but is then discovered by the authorities and put on trial for perversion. She makes an impassioned plea for those with gender identities:

“I am female. I was born that way. I have had those feelings, those longings all of my life. It is not unnatural. I am not sick because I feel this way. I do not need to be helped, I do not need to be cured. What I need, and what all of those who are like me need, is your understanding, and your compassion. We have not injured you in any way; and yet, we are scorned and attacked all because we are different. What we do is no different from what you do. We talk and laugh. We complain about work and we wonder about growing old. We talk about our families and we worry about the future, and we cry with each other when things seem hopeless. All of the loving things that you do with each other, that is what we do. And for that we are called ‘misfits’ and ‘deviants’ and ‘criminals’. What right do you have to punish us? What right do you have to change us? What makes you think you can dictate how people love each other?”

The response of the tribunal:

“After [this] diatribe you must think we are a cruel and oppressive people. Nothing could be further from the truth…We’re concerned about our citizens and we take our obligations seriously. Soren is sick and sick people want to get well. We have a very high success rate in treating deviants like this and without exception they become happier people after their treatment, and grateful that we care enough to cure them. You see, on this world, everyone wants to be normal.”

Sound familiar? I look forward to the day when it doesn’t.

Lara is one of Erica’s oldest friends who constantly seeks to balance the mind, heart, and spirit to not only make herself a better person, but to positively impact the lives of those around her. She and Erica hope that one day, everyone will be treated with compassion and kindness based on the quality of their character.

Guest Writer: Finding And Chasing Your Passion

Hello again! This is Abby, an old friend of Erica’s, you may remember from a post I wrote a while back. This time I want to ramble about something similar, but kind of different, especially in light of a few things that came to happen during the last couple of months.

First, a little background on what I want to ramble about.

I don’t know how many of you, if any, follow a show called RWBY produced by Rooster Teeth, it’s about a bunch of really badass teenage girls who are monster hunters. It’s an awesome little show. And unfortunately it’s creator and lead writer, Monty Oum passed away at the beginning of February.  He was a very inspirational person and remains incredibly inspirational and motivational. And then on February 27^th, Leonard Nimoy – who most of you will know better as Mr. Spock, passed away. He was a major inspiration to a lot of people, not just those in the sci-fi world.

All that being said I want to talk about, following your dreams and finding someone or something that inspires you and why it is so important.

Alright, I’m going to get a little personal here for a minute. When I was younger I didn’t want to follow my dreams. I didn’t want to be different. Now there were a lot of reasons for this, one of the most compelling being that I was bullied. So like many younger children I tried my hardest to fit in, because when you’re little and weird fitting in seems like the best way to go. However as I got older, I realized that was not what I – or anyone do.

Now, why did I start with Monty and Spock? Because they inspired me. Spock, reminds me to always be myself, because when you’re weird and different (just like he was), you shouldn’t have to hide it. Monty, well, he showed me, that you have to chase your dreams with everything you’ve got.

And that’s what I want to talk about: chasing your dreams. They are what makes you, you.

Everyone is different and weird, in their own ways. I like to dress up in costume as comic book or anime characters and go to conventions. I love to write, especially urban fantasy stories. That’s who I am and I’ve embraced it. Why? Because, you have to be true to yourself, even if yourself is someone who freaks other people out. Spock taught me that, what with the being half human, and half Vulcan, he was supposed to be cold and logical, but he let his emotions color his life because that’s who he was. And Monty, he chased his dream with every fiber of his being, throwing himself into it wholly regardless of what it did to him.

Now, I’m not saying you have to sacrifice your health or emotional well-being to chase your dreams and find inspiration. However, chasing your dreams will make you happier, that I can guarantee. People always say, do what you love and you won’t work a day in your life. I’m sorry, but that’s bullshit. Do what you love, and you’ll work harder than then you ever have. You’ll enjoy yourself, despite all the frustration and in the process you’ll make or do something that you can be proud of.  Once you find your passion, nothing will be able to stop you from your desire to make it happen but you have to pursue it. I’m not talking, halfheartedly saying things like, “Oh, I want to be a writer” and then occasionally writing a few lines and saying you’ll go back to it later. I mean sitting down every day and working on it, pouring your heart and soul into it. That’s what it really means to chase your dreams.

In order to chase your dreams, you have to be moved by something, be it your love of cooking or animating or writing or space or whatever. Now, I know thus far it seems like I’ve been focused on what Monty taught me however, Leonard Nimoy, specifically as Spock, taught me that you have to be who you are, and be unashamed about who you are. Being unashamed of who you are will allow you to chase after your dreams and find what you really want to be or want to do.  The perfect example of this is Spock applying to both Star Fleet and the Vulcan Science Academy and when he gets into the Science Academy, realizing that what he really wanted to do was join Star Fleet. And before purist tell me I am wrong yes, I know this is from the 2009 Star Trek movie, and it wasn’t Nimoy’s portrayal but if I am remembering correctly, in the original series this is alluded to, but never seen.

Now while, I’ve probably gone off topic a lot and talked a lot of nonsense, my goal was to share with those who will listen why being accepting of yourself, finding inspiration and chasing your dream is so important.  A life without chasing your dreams, even if you never meet them, would seem empty and, in my opinion, not a life worth living. My last piece of advice is this: work hard and follow your heart. Yeah, work that crappy job because you need to make a living, but when you have the time chase your dream, follow it with all your heart and work hard for it. Because even when it seems like everything is lost and what you’re doing doesn’t seem worth, having a dream means you have something to chase.

After all, life isn’t necessarily the destination but the journey. Life is our individual journeys to chase our dreams.

From The Writer: I want to dedicate this post to my amazing and wonderful Nanna. She was one of the first people in my life to truly teach me how to live a life full of passion and how to chase your dreams. She was the one who introduced me to Mr. Spock and without that introduction I would not be the person I am today. So for probably not the last time, but the first of many, I want to thank her for everything she did Rest In Power Nanna, I miss you more than anything.