THE INSTITUTION IS WACK,NO CAP

Now the GIF above may be funny but no one wants to be "locked up". This institutionalization is not just limiting and demoralizing but also an initiator of continued negative behaviors. Institutionalized behaviors are intended to regulate and encourage appropriate social behavioral standards yet the research has shown that this initiative has not been as acceptable as intended. It creates long-term deficiencies, including social and emotional detachment, loss of reasoning, decrease in feelings or worth, and aggression. Knowing this we as a society have attempted to rehabilitate those that do not conform to the societal norm. Our government and communities have attempted to participate in this initiative for centuries with limited success. Is your mindset locked up?

I am a person who believes in order and community contributions. I believe that there are some standards that are necessary to evoke peaceful environments but I often wonder how the absence or lack of individual purpose has many of us "locked up". Are we institutionalizing our population by overbearing expectations and rules? Are we creating a society that only allows definitions of success to be based on a few experience? Do we cause greater anxiety and unrest because we prevent people from the journey that they are entitled to? There is an old song that has a lyrical chorus that says, " Locked up. Won't let me out". Have we done just this in our culture?

I say the answer to all of these questions are: Yes, sometimes. We allow ourselves to be confined to the journey of others. When this happens and we cannot see achievement we lay in wait for our spot in the "less than" line. We then began to look for other ways to express ourselves or use our voice. ALL people require some power as a basic human need. Power in your decisions and voice in choices is empowering but when our voice is unpleasing to the ears of a narrowly accepted path we are silenced. This muffled voice then has to find another way of expression. Often that alternate way is counter productive, under the grid, or the birth of non-effective short cuts.

I cannot express enough how essential it is to train yourself to find a positively compromising way to use your voice. Yes, it is important to follow rules, be respectful to authority, and be a positive contributor in society. It is equally important to find and journey your purpose in a way that is satisfying with the acceptance that it may be non conventional. Do not expect your success to look like mine because my assignment is different than yours. Be encouraged and remove the shackles on more than your physical being but also your mind. You are ENOUGH! Your contribution in my life depends on your being bold not timid, strong not weak, and a champion not an unconscious conformist.