We’re always seeking a name, a label,

An identity to wrap around our shoulders

And swirl in front of pining crowds.

We think they care, we think that label

Made them love us for our flaws,

But really it just made them roll their eyes

And whisper quietly behind our backs.

I’ll never understand the need

To scrabble for that label that

Sets us out into the cold,

A bleak and lonely place to be.

I was talking with Noah in the car today and our conversation turned towards labels. It was a chat that really made me think about the way we all seem to want a label, as though we don’t have an identity if we can’t fit under some umbrella that was invented by God knows who.

Whether it be a mental illness that people really want to be diagnosed with or a sexual orientation or preference. I am all for people having these labels but it’s the fact that these people get so angry when they feel their “group” is being attacked.

I know that I’m using a very big brush to tarnish a lot of people here, but it’s the anger that bothers me. I think it’s so important that people who have a mental illness get the help that they need and that people who who fall into any other group that is in the minority get that protection, advice and care that they deserve. But why are we getting so mad at each other?

It’s as though these people want to be part of a minority group so that they can fight on the internet, and that makes me really sad.

Noah started the conversation by asking me if I had ever felt any romantic love towards another woman and I said that I had. I’m straight but I believe that we are all on a bit of a spectrum.

And then Noah said, surely we should stop referring to each other as gay or straight and just say that we are in love with a human. I liked that so much because it breaks down all of those walls we like to build up.

So, if I can ask you to do anything today, it would be to do as Noah said and fall in love with a human. It doesn’t matter if you are a man or woman. It doesn’t matter if you fall in love with a man or a woman. Let’s just get rid of the labels. Please.

Much Love

Rachel xx