The ideas portrayed in The Matrix have an uncanny connection to Plato's The Allegory of the Cave, a story that explores the difference between seeing knowledge through one's experiences versus the truth. People who have lived their lives forced into a position that only allows them to look at shadows on a wall know nothing beyond the cave they are bound to. As a result, they end up naming the shadows they see, and the shadows become their reality, their truth. People have a tendency to believe what they see and narrow-mindedly restrict their beliefs to what they establish to be "reality". At that point, even if the truth dances in their face with a mustache and top hat while doing backflips in the air, they remain so fixated on their own beliefs that they are blind to the truth. This concept reminds me of a saying I have once heard about how a goldfish who has only ever lived in a glass bowl wouldn't know how big the ocean is; and if I told it that a dingy little pond about two or three times the size of its bowl was the ocean, the goldfish would be none the wiser.

Now, back to The Matrix, a film that reveals the illusions of the mind and portrays the difference between a filtered, artificial reality versus a true reality. As seen in modern society today, humans believe what they choose to believe rather than what is true, allowing them to be chained down by their own minds. Similar to how the people of Plato's The Allegory of the Cave considered shadows to be their reality, Neo considered the "Matrix" to be his reality until his eyes were opened and he came to the realization that he was living in an AI simulation. Had Neo never encountered Morpheus, he would have remained in the simulated world, completely unaware that the world he was living in was a "fake".

In The Allegory of the Cave, Socrates goes on to explain how a person released from the cave and exposed to the sunlight will initially reject the new reality they are introduced to but then eventually learn to accept the truth and even prefer it over their previous view of the world. After explaining the truth about the Matrix to Neo, Morpheus offers a blue pill and a red pill to him. The blue pill would return Neo to his previous life of “normalcy” in the Matrix, a representation of mankind’s rejection of reality, while the red pill would take Neo deeper down the path of truth, a representation of acceptance. These ideals are often reflected in modern day politics, as many people who are stubbornly fixated on their personal beliefs refuse to listen to the truth; even when the truth is presented on a platter, overwhelmingly supported by scientific evidence and held together by layers of logic. On the other hand, those who are willing to open their eyes are presented with a new worldview that allows them to realize the power of the truth.

I bolt straight to the line snaking behind a small glass window with a sturdy white frame.

What about the roaring roller coasters, the thrilling white water splashes, and the spinning wheel of baskets you ask?

I am interested in none of it.

That's right. I go to amusement parks for nothing but their funnel cakes.

Now, before you say anything, you must understand. There’s just something about eating a funnel cake amidst cheering screams, bustling crowds and festive music that simply hits differently. It’s an experience that is sure to put me on cloud nine, even when my mood is buried six feet under.

Ah, I can see the powdered sugar getting scattered upon the crispy disk all the way from here. The line always moves astoundingly slow, but the shower of strawberry syrup is quite the show. I never cease to be thunderstruck by the flood of chocolate syrup that threatens to spill over the edge of the plate.

Sigh…

There are young children kicking up a storm in spite of their parents’ warning. That is quite the fit they are having…

Oh dear…

My heart drops and rain fills my soul as I realize the cause of the commotion. I can see the back of many heads, yet not even the ghost of a single funnel cake remains behind the big glass window with a sturdy white frame.

Knowledge is an understanding of the mind, while enlightenment is an understanding of the soul.

Learning to acknowledge and accept others for who they are requires great patience and empathy. And by learning to understand how others think, one may gain insight on the world around them and their place in it.

One will realize their true role in this world once they attain a state of wholeness with themself, a state of complete unity between the body and mind in which one is mentally and spiritually aligned with the present.

You may gain a better understanding of yourself by learning from others, but only you have the ability to truly understand yourself. Knowledge is powerful and can guide you on a path to wisdom, but enlightenment is a stage in which one has attained a complete sense of who they are, a state that comes with unimaginable wisdom of the self.

Society tends to feel the need to put a label on everything. Such a habit is difficult to break, especially due to how the social construct of Western society ironically antagonizes unity in its attempt to embrace it. Americans claim to desire equality and justice for all, yet as they strive to fulfill that goal, they hypocritically divide people through the accumulation of labels in order to alienate those they view as the “enemy”.

I believe that all people deserve freedom of self-expression to a certain extent. Although I am supportive of the LGBTQ+ community’s fight for self-expression, I am against the negative impact that some of its values have on those who are not a part of the community. When people of one “side” overstep their rights to self-expression, they may end up violating the rights of those on the other.

Many people from the LGBTQ+ community attempt to solidify said gender roles or sexual identities by forcing a widely undesired label upon biological men and women: cisgender. And most people within the LGBTQ+ community expect to be referred to by their preferred pronouns and gender for their personal comfort. Yet some of those people simultaneously refuse to let go of the label “cisgender” for biological men and women who reject such a label.

I understand the desire to fit in as who you are, however, it is not necessary to change others in order to accept yourself. If a person expects for their boundaries to be respected, then they should in turn respect those of others. In other words, only biological men and women who are willing to be called “cisgender” should be referred to as such. I would venture to say that “cisgender” is a redundant concept as labels are meant for identification, not validation.

Sharp, painful shards of a shattered mirror

Isolated bits pressed into each other

Blinding diversity burned into my eyes

A beautiful palette of dizzying colors

And maybe a little sprinkle of life

What I once saw as child's play

Now drowns me in a wave of struggles

And laughs at me with soft clinks

As I keep running in endless circles

I'm the finely chopped onions

Sprinkled upon a bed of noodles

that hide naked beneath the soup

I'm the finely chopped onions

Peering over the edge of the bowl

Witnessing the crispy, tender meat,

the silky, bouncy tofu,

and the soft, fluffy rice

all come and go

I'm the finely chopped onions

Carrying the burden of chili oil

While suffocating from the flavorful steam

that constantly rises into my face

and escapes the cage

that I cannot

I'm the finely chopped onions

Desperately clinging onto the warmth of the sinking noodles

While gasping for air

as I sink with them

Into the suffocating world of hidden spices

Into the embrace of savory waves

that slowly wash over me

I'm the finely chopped onions

That stick to chopsticks like a leech

That rise and fall as they command

While catching a glimpse of the sweet, sweet world

that I can never dream to join

I'm the finely chopped onions

That notice the abandoned peanuts

from the very first dish,

shivering in the cold

while longingly looking at the lively dance

of the newly arrived mango puddings

I'm the finely chopped onions

Left in the bowl at the end

Feeling soggy and wet

Alone and unwanted

But also unscathed

Meaningless words become thoughts that only I know, ideas concealed within my mind.

Then, the words that only hold meaning to me become words that anybody can see.

What does being published mean to me?

It means that I can share my words, my thoughts, my ideas.

And show people that their thoughts matter.

That they are not alone.

Loneliness is dark. It's cold. It's painful.

And it feels like it'll never go away.

But my Old Life promised me its return, and that's what keeps me going.

As time goes on, people fall out of my life the way snow falls out of the sky.

My flowers are withering away, and my branches feel bare...

When the only hands that can hold me are my own, I think of the hands that once held me and suddenly I feel wistful but also a little more warm.

...

At last, I return to the chiming bells, the stacks of books, and the rustling papers in a zoo full of children who feel too big for the cages of their own body.

Life floods back into me, and I start to remember that there are hands to catch me when I fall.

The lineup of ingredients, seemingly random, form a masterpiece, a work of art greater than the sum of its parts.

A tightly wound ball of noodles is pitched into the boiling water and gently loosened by a pair of wooden chopsticks.

They slump softly as they are slid into a bowl.

The glistening soup poured over the noodles is blanketed by a thin layer of oil that catches the sunlight and sparkles like a diamond, protecting the hidden treasures of flavor beneath.

A pair of chopsticks are wiggled to part the noodles in the center of the bowl, and a mound of meat is formed upon the dugout of noodles, peeking out from the soup like little nuggets of gold.

Left hand gripping tightly on the bowl, the eggs are battered up with chopsticks resting in the other hand. The mixture is lightly trickled over the steaming soup and a handful of fresh, finely-chopped scallions tops it all off. It's a simple way to plate the dish, but elegant and delicious nevertheless.

There’s no need to balk at giving this dish a try, for this wonderful meal is forgiving to errors and guaranteed to earn a high score.

It’s time to windup, and strike the bell to signal the arrival of long-awaited joy, “Time to eat!”

Some people are born on top of the hill

And it's lovely for the ones who are

The power to excel from the start

It's a wonderful feeling, for sure

That is, unless they realize that

what they're good at

they don't like doing

very much at all

Talent...

A blessing to some,

a curse to others

Wings to some,

a cage to others

A sure sign that

the only sure gift to any

is Hard Work:

The true superpower often overlooked

The true superpower often underestimated

The true superpower anybody can have