Wear your truth as armor

Prudes, snowflakes, SJWs and bastards. It doesn't have to hurt you.

“You’re Ned Stark’s bastard aren’t you"?” says Tyrion Lannister to Jon Snow, the indeed bastard son of King Ned Stark in the first episode of Game of Thrones.

Snow is not amused. “Did I offend you? Sorry.” Tyrion pauses. “You are the bastard though.”

It’s funny. Jon Snow was about to walk away in a big ol’ huff because a drunk prince with dwarfism called him a word commonly associated with being the illegitimate son of a king or queen. Jon Snow is this thing. He is a bastard.

Tyrion loves giving unsolicited advice. He is is advisor by nature. So Tyrion does what he is called to do. “Let me give you some advice…bastard…

Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor and it can never be used to hurt you.”

How much of your life do you waste in agony and distress over things said about you or to you, that aren’t entirely unfounded? Be honest. How many times has someone said something to you that in retrospect was just blunt or in-artful, but you took it as an attack?

We’re living in a seemingly strange but entirely not new cultural moment concerned with oversensitivity. You’ve heard the talk of millennial “snowflakes” and “SJWs” (social justice warriors) on college campuses. Delivered always with derision.

It was years ago and his old tweets seem to have been largely deleted, but I remember entertainment journalist Bryan Young once saying something along the lines of “yes, I am an SJW. So was Luke Skywalker and the Rebellion,” to a critic of his. It’s that easy to flip the script and remove yourself from the column of whiny activist — and into that of hero and rebel.

I’ve seen certain conservatives go nuclear when called a “prude” when that person is in fact made easily uncomfortable by even mild sexuality or nudity. I’ve seen genuine leftists completely meltdown if you lob the “SJW” acronym in their direction. But is it not true? Is it false that you are a warrior…a fighter for…and a believer…in the cause of social justice? Then be proud.

Your reaction to words will either prove or disprove the words themselves. A snowflake melts under the slightest bit of heat. So don’t melt. Then it’s untrue.

And if it is true….Wear it like armor. That’s partially why you’ll see communities “take it back” it regards to slurs and ugly words used against them. Use the word internally within their circles with a sense of jest and ownership. It’s a small exercise of power.

Marcus Aurelius writes in Meditations, “Our life is only perception — Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed—and you haven’t been.”

Watch that interaction between Tyrion the dwarf and Jon the bastard.

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