I've seen and read many stories before writing my own, and it bears repeating that we make our future from our present. When people care about things that don't affect them, they can make society better. Resilience is never to be romanticized--much like social issues are predominantly artificial, current issues can become better when people are given avenues to work with. My community has long kept loss in mind when facing issues--they know that providing comfort when vulnerabilities are shared helps emotional development. I could only face my issues from a position of strength than a position of vulnerability, as these needed communications. Now, only finding safe spaces and feeling like actually living my life after college, I can see that there is a lot out there--still hard to reach because of social media or divided by barriers of distance and social connections--but a lot exists to support people. Forwards from birth, we reflect what exists, internally or otherwise. I remember how long I couldn't smile, through elementary and high school onwards--I was afraid because the issues affecting me were never acknowledged. Because I am accepted is the reason why I can finally smile.