To quote the movie “Finding Forrester”, “it’s not exactly a soup question, is it?” (i.e. it’s a meaningless, worthless question.)

I can’t speak to what it’s like to be a person of color (unless freckles and moles count — just kidding!), but I know many ways that life can be hard.

It’s tough to be gay. It’s tough to be a woman sometimes. It’s tough to be genderqueer. It’s tough to be a recovering alcoholic. It’s tough to be married to an abusive spouse (I’m out of that one). It’s tough to be unemployed. It’s tough to be so in debt that there is no way out.

And yet for those of us with the courage and honesty to accept the ugly realities of life, we can find a way to grow beyond our inherent and artificial limitations.

And I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn from people who have had different experiences than I have.