If we are lucky in our lives, we’ll have people around us that love us, enjoy our company, and support us when we strive for something. But if that something is outside the normal, something artistic, something that requires conviction, or takes time to accomplish, you begin to see how far certain friendships and relationships will go.
For me, it was my siblings that never really got my continual journey to become a writer. I have no doubt that they love me and wish the best for me, but I used to think their lack of interest in what I was doing was akin to a lack of caring about me in general. Perhaps, they just didn’t think of what I’m doing as a “career” or something that could be a future, or they very least, something that is fulfilling. But in the end, It wasn’t that they didn’t want me to succeed, they just couldn’t understand it.
Recently, another thought came to mind about the lack of understanding from my siblings, as well as from people who have known me since I was a kid. They aren’t my peers.
The proper meaning of a peer is “one that is of equal standing with another”. Perhaps, the people who have known me the longest don’t always see me as a “peer”. After all, I’m the “little brother”, or the “brother of so-and-so”. It is hard to forge one’s self identity when there are many others inadvertently seeing only as what they perceive. Honestly, it isn’t even their fault, especially early on. That is a big part of who you are. But as you get older and start to become your own person, those old perceptions can be hard to shake.
That is why finding your own peers, especially later in life, can be so important. If the people who knew you for most of your life can’t change how they see you, finding others who will see you as you are now is vitally important.
You can never really change who you were. It helped you become who you are. But, you are NOT the same person you once were. Well, at least you hope you aren’t! We all hope to grow into the person we wanted to be. Some of us do. Some of us don’t. The best thing we can hope for is accepting who we are, without compromising the things most important to us.
I am still the “little brother” or “brother of so-and-so”, but I am my own person. I am more. Having peers that can see the “more” matters. No matter where they are in their lives, we share moments in time that are relatable. We share similar ideals, senses of humour, and struggles. Many of them know the difficulty of striving for dreams, careers, and holding onto hopes of something better. Many have succeed, others still struggle. But in the sharing, the inspiration, and the understanding, all of those things makes them peers to me.
To all of them, thank you for your friendship and encouragement.
Image by Joseph Redfield Nino from Pixabay
The Journey of Sark 
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