Institutions Can Be Damaging To The Individual

While at a private university, I found myself feeling out of place. Everyone I knew dressed the same, talked the same, acted the same. They even had the same Instagram followers. I tried answering questions the way I thought I was supposed to answer and only got my workout clothes at lululemon like all my friends, but something felt off. I knew I wasn’t being my true self.

In other words, people involved in certain organizations may be convinced that some unnatural ideas are actually normal because the people around them are doing those same things too. These institutions become detrimental when they dis-empower the individual by using authority to dictate the person’s decisions.

Institutions can be religious, educational, social, or of any other similar purpose. No matter what organization it is, no group is worth losing that sense of self or individualism.

Your Life Unfolds In Proportion To Your Courage

I decided to make a change. It may have conflicted with the “normal” timeline of girls my age, and a lot of people still don’t understand why I made the move, but I have never felt more at peace with myself than I do now in San Francisco. I am making decisions based on what I want to do instead of basing my actions on outside influences. It has been an incredibly rewarding year.

Some may say that I have “changed” since moving, but the truth is, I have just become more myself, and that is a very comfortable feeling.

It wasn’t easy! Leaving such familiarity for something completely new is a big move, but it has been so worth it.

Here are a few great benefits since moving to California:

• Realizing that I am, indeed, brave
• Getting to know the Tech Industry in Silicon Valley
• Mastering traveling alone
• The ocean and constant good weather
• Focusing on personal health: physical, mental, and spiritual.
• Many, many, many “firsts”

This place. is. amazing.

ES