Family.

The apotheosis of archetypes, is it not? For never, in any story, do we ever leave out an allusion to some sort of family dynamic. Every hero on every quest has someone or something they must get back to. Whether it be an animal or a human, an individual or a community, a parent or a lover or a friend; whatever they may be, they become a driving force for any protagonist. The true catalyst for success is that which they see as their family.

This doesn’t just apply to stories, though.

In our daily lives we strive to find our own causation for action, to find the billowing winds that push our rugged sails, so to speak. And just as in the stories, family seems to maintain its role in real life situations.

Personally, my family never gave me much motivation, except for the fact that I wanted to get away from them. It sounds pretty dismal, but my home has never been an environment in which I could thrive. Family meant my mom and my brother and our apartment and saying hi when we needed to be amicable. Family wasn’t a fairy tale, and it sure as hell wasn’t the introduction to my epic story.  Family wasn’t really anything… Until I found my true family…

“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” I had never dreamed that family could become what you make of it, but it really is your choice who you give the privilege of your time to. The bloody bonds you form in “battle” mean so much more than who you were born to. And if you fight those battles alongside your relatives? That’s really good for you, but I’m going to stick with my platonic soulmates over here.

I’ve found people who make me feel truly blessed, and I haven’t even been to a Church in two years. I’ve begun this last year of my high school career with a small group of people who I’m pretty sure are my soulmates, as cheesy as it sounds: three best friends and a boyfriend who make my heart skip like a toddler after a birthday party. They’ve come into my life, and I know they are here to stay. My loves, this family I have made my own, will push me towards a brighter future.