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Living In A Labeled World, I Want To Be Unlabeled

***August 5, 2021*** As we opened our eyes in the morning what we see are labels. From the phone we tap to set off the alarm, the blanket we use to cover our cold frame at night, the soft bed and pillow, the pajama we take off, and the clothes we wear on, the slippers we put on, the coffee we sip, and the cup we hold, the bread we munch, the utensils we use, the TV we turn on while slouching on the sofa. As we stepped out of our house, we can see the label "*Welcome*" on the doormat, the knob we grip, and the key we inserted have labeled as well. Even elevators have labels too, the roads, the streets, the houses, the buildings, the cars, and the people all over the place. There are rich, poor, lame, powerful, simple, pretty, weak, strong, special, popular, expensive, and inexpensive things, but despite different labels, many things and many people are still **UNLABELLED**. As I traveled down memory lane, I remember babies in the hospitals are labeled too. Right after their birth, they will be fitted with bands on their wrists or ankles to be identified. Parents are tagged too, to avoid losing their babies.

The thing I never experienced in my life, because I never wear a band on my wrist nor my ankle when I was a baby. My mother gave birth to me at home with the help of what they labeled as ***kumadrona***. An old woman who was also labeled as a traditional birth attendant doing the work of a midwife but with no labels of degree or diploma. As I grow up and gain wisdom, my siblings labeled me as ***my mother and father's favorite***, as I never received a painful strike from my father, and my mother always set aside more food for me. Why not? I was the most obedient child while others are naughty and we even have a ***black sheep*** in the family.

I entered school with a rectangular-shaped card on the upper left corner of my uniform made by my mother, with the label "**RUBY JANE"** on it. Different kids with different labels can be seen inside the labeled room, from section A to the last. That's how our teacher learned our names, but I actually hate wearing that tag especially during oral recitation. As much as possible I want to cover it with my hair so the teacher won't see and won't call my name. Unfortunately, I got short hair with bangs from Primary 1 to 6, tailored by my beautiful mother. One day my mother told me to buy "*Colgate na Close Up*" and as a naive child, I just followed what she has said. In the store, I told the staff "*pabili ( can I buy) po Colgate na Close Up*" She was confused and so I was. "*What toothpaste do you want? Colgate or Close Up?*' She asked.

One funny thing in my country is people are just using the same labels for products of the same kind. They will call all toothpaste as Colgate, all milk as Bear Brand, all diapers as Pampers, all sanitary pads as Modess, etcetera. And as a kid, we adopted how to ***mislabel things***.

But when we grow up, we have learned how to identify, sort, segregate and label different things. And as we gain more knowledge and learn new things, we also learned that the **WORLD IS FULL OF DIFFERENT LABELS, from non-living to living things, even the intangible ones, the emotions, reactions, impressions, and perceptions are labeled. Some are labeled right, while some are labeled wrong.** When we learned how to mingle with others inside and outside school, we found our peers with different labels, either in a ***Clique*** or in a ***Crowd*** group. How do you label yourself way back in school? Are you a ***Happy Camper?*** Satisfied and happy with things you have, small or big, good or bad. Are you a ***Lone Wolf*** who prefers to be alone in your own world? An anti-social I should say, and introverted just like me. But believe me or not, I have never been a lone wolf in school unless my friends were absent. I was even a ***Chatter-Box*** sometimes, especially if the topic was interesting. But most of the time, I was just a normal ***unlabeled student***. Are you a ***Nerd or a bookworm***? The bright spark of the school and is so much interested in all subjects, exploring, and learning new things out, and reading almost all labels of books in the library.

Or are you a ***Smart-Alec***? The type of person I hated the most. As if they know everything. So boastful and irritating I should say. But there was a friend I won't forget, a mislabeled student in our school. People call her ***Cold,*** weird, aloof, more lonely than the lone wolf. People thought she's a cold one and doesn't care about everything around her. But when she spoke and stepped out of her zone, everyone was amazed, as she transformed into a ***Dark Horse,*** and the people's mislabel and their first impressions did not last. We stepped out of school with different labels of degree and face the bigger, wider, and turbulent crowd. We stumbled upon more complicated labels that are tough to fathom. But since we were pre-oriented about the real world when we were still in school, we got a clearer picture and vision of how the world looks like, and how people in it work and label each other. ***But the expectations are truly different once you perceived and witnessed things in the actual world.***

When we stepped foot in the world of careers, we have realized that people with ***higher labels are more respected than those with lower labels***. The competition starts to flow as more people aim for a better and higher name. And living in this survival world pushes them to enter the competitive arena. Those who can reach the top can secure their future, those who will be left at the bottom will suffer more and surpass more ***walls labeled as obstacles****.* As we face the crowd with different faces and different labels, we are sometimes ***mislabeled***. People will label us based on our personalities and mostly based on their first impressions. I was once mislabeled and defined by their negative impression when I entered the field of new different faces. Due to my introverted personality, people thought I was a cold-hearted, sassy, and unfriendly lad. But as we get along, their first impression did not last and I was ***labeled based on their perception of my real personality.*** As we age and understand the struggles of life, we become more competitive and practical. So even when buying our needs, we check the labels of the products. Some will check the ***quality***, but some will check the ***tag***. Many will prefer the affordable ones, while others are choosing the ***branded ones***. But for the normal and the poor, they are contented with the ***cheap*** but comfortable ones.

We grow, we compete, we label, we get into relationships. From the label of single, to in a relationship, to complicated status, and open relationships. But have you ever had a ***relationship with no labels?*** That feeling that you better not label anything so when the fairy tale story ended, there will be no worries, no heartaches, no hate. That feeling that you better stay your friendship status as is, because we know that it will last longer than the other one. No expectations, no commitments, ***just friends***, and no other labels. Because in this world, people always come and always go, and the thing labeled ***forever doesn't exist***. But some successful ones in this area wished for their relationship labels to be permanent, even though there is no forever. ***Related Article: Similarities: People Come And Go, But Lessons Remain*** https://read.cash/@Jane/similarities-people-come-and-go-but-lessons-remain-fb501248 The world is full of labels and so people also label themselves. Those who have much are labeled as rich, and those who are less fortunate are labeled poor, and some don't even know how to label themselves. They are lost in the middle of the ***dark mislabeled path*** and struggling to trace back the footsteps of where they have begun, confused about which trail to follow and which tunnel to pass through.

And being in this society full of judgmental people, we will be mislabeled by them too. Those who followed the wrong path are labeled ***bad***, and those following the right path are labeled ***good.*** People will label every action we take and every word we say. ***As if we are living in other people's minds.*** We are always careful with everything we take to thwart being mislabeled by other people. But that is exhausting because we are just ordinary humans with no labels of superpowers and abilities to make things perfect just to gratify other people's expectations. So rather than getting mislabels, many chose to stay **UNLABELED**. **And I prefer to be unlabeled than be mislabeled.** And if I could travel in a time machine, I will choose a place and time where no one knows about my identity. Where I can live a carefree and simple life without worrying about the world and the people around me. No worries, no commitments, no expectations, **NO LABELS, JUST THE REAL ME.** So this is my entry for @JonicaBradley new prompt: Labels ***This article was checked on Text.com plagiarism checker.*** The result in another checker has 2% plagiarized content though. But I don't care. Because this content came from my own words and thoughts. Lol It's up to the moderator if she will accept this or not. Peaceyow btw ✌

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