Worcester, MA
United States
Everyday, I try to do at least one thing to make someone smile. This ranges from getting my roommate stressing about homework some candy from the grocery store to telling someone on the street how lovely their outfit is to holding the door for 5 people. Sometimes, even the smallest deeds like holding the door surprises people. It’s almost as if people don’t expect others they don’t know to be nice to them. I try to encourage everyone to just be genuine and nice to others, and it will help make this world a better, more loving place. Just start by holding the door.
People always ask me, “Zack, why are you so nice? Why do you care so much about me?” And it’s always so uncomfortable for me. There’s so much evil in this world, that people are genuinely shocked by my acts of kindness and caring. And it’s literally just who I am. I’m not trying to be narcissistic, but I just have a genuinely caring personality (it’s not always a good thing and tends to make me both vulnerable and naïve). But when someone expresses some sort of sad or angry feeling I do what I need to do in order to help them feel better ~ and people don’t always get that sort of caring attention. But I hope more people can exhibit care for others, even if they don’t know them that much. I’m a middle school teacher, and I hope I can help raise up a generation of people who don’t see, hear, or speak evil, but instead care and spread goodness.
In regards to my labels, that’s a whole other story beyond the evil of this world. I’ve always been queer ~ which I like a lot more than the term gay because queer helps capture my hyper femininity, as well, which is honestly a lot more of a problem for people than me being gay. But it took me a long time to accept either, because I’ve been bullied since I was literally in preschool and was kicked out for being “too mentally ill”. I was harassed for being gay before I knew the word, pushed to attempted suicide before I was 10 years old. I had a really hard childhood, but I’ve become a strong and independent adult, and am proud of how far I’ve come. I’ve learned a lot about the obstacles I had to go through, as I found out my birth mother had attempted to abort me and had done drugs from Valium to cocaine to opioids to marijuana and alcohol, all while pregnant with me. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve got the mental illness issues I have. And since I struggled so much as a kid, I find myself now as an adult always trying to find the positive light in things and always trying to be happy. I don’t want to be sad because I was sad for so long, that I just want to be happy and spread positivity and light.
You never know someone’s story, so always be careful when dealing with strangers, and proceed with love ~ that’s why I support the no evil project.