a kaleidoscope needs a mirror to see itself
You're not confused —you're just being forced into a framework that doesn't fit you.
It's a set-up.
Capitalists love labels. They need you categorized. Boxed. Understood quickly, by them, so they don't have to do the work of actually seeing you.
And if you don't fit their categories? If you're complex, contradictory, multifaceted? Then you must be confused. Undecided. Not fully formed yet.
And yet, it is the diversity of our beliefs, values, words, and actions that make me us who we are. And THEY are many and multifaceted.
Not "it" is. THEY are.
You can't call yourself X if you don't do Y.
That's the dogma. The gatekeeping. The myopic culture that needs everyone in clearly marked boxes so we know who to listen to and who to dismiss.
But there is no one way to express yourself or do things. And more importantly, you don't always have to identify or label yourself as something to anyone to find belonging in a space.
This happens constantly. You tell people who you are, and they tell you, "No, you're actually this other thing that makes sense to me," going back to the default narrative they've already constructed. Their reality.
I hate it.
Labels don't have to be inherently insulting. But it is projecting a framework, calling it understanding.
Could our society operate like a kaleidoscope?
Everything falls into place like a universal understanding. But it requires calibration. Too fast and it becomes a blur — you can't appreciate the individualness that comes together to make the beautiful design. Too slow and it doesn't come together at all.
The kaleidoscope is like that for a reason. And it needs a mirror to see itself.
We can't build something better if we can't see what we're building. We need reflection. We need to be able to look at what we've created and ask: Is this what we meant to make? Is this beautiful? Is this working for everyone in the pattern, or just some of us?
The beauty of a kaleidoscope is that every piece matters. Remove one, and the pattern changes. Add one, and new possibilities emerge. No piece is more important than another —they all create the whole together.
Challenge the status quo.
Do you notice the areas where you're being flattened into someone else's framework?
Where are you doing this to others? Are you so attached to your understanding of the world that you can't make space for someone who doesn't fit your categories?
Your complexity threatens their certainty. Your refusal to be one thing suggests that they don't have to be one thing either. And that's terrifying if they've built their entire identity on being exactly what they're supposed to be, flattened.
If I wrote a book, the title would be "The Subject of My Desires." Not the object. The subject. Because desire isn't something that happens to you. It's not passive. It's not about being wanted. Desire is active. It's about wanting. About choosing. About being the one who decides what matters and pursues it. You are the subject of your own desires. Not the object of someone else's.
Stay complex in a world that demands simplification.
Notice where you're performing a simplified version of yourself to fit someone else's framework. And see if you can show up as your full, complicated, contradictory self —even just once.
See what happens when you refuse to be flattened.