Be Your Own Leader

And if only for one day
You had the chance to have it in your hands
All the power in the world?
And if you could enjoy all the pleasure
And freedom without guilt
what would you do?

At the time of identity
Is to carefully choose the color of your lipstick
I ask you, “Is that really what you want?”
Is this the person you want to become?
Laughing copiously about memes about tragedy
Enjoying Facebook pages
And pretending to be some kind of alien on Instagram?

Would you like to be called a donkey?
Because the entertainment industry
Will continue to sell you this idea
Of being young in the 2000s
Is to be so free and conscious
To choose, how you want to self-annihilate.

Do you want to be this flesh and blood puppet?
A hanger bearing the choices of someone
Who are going to change next week?
Maybe you think I’m crazy and retrograde.
But I just hope for the best of you
That you can transit between
Trends and ideologies, but have your own ideas
Stop repeating what your parents
Your friends
Idols want to hear
You’re not hollow!
Inside you there is an entire system
Intrinsically complex operating
And you have every right to refute what I say
you are free
So do not swallow these ready-made ideas
Question, doubt, fight and shout
But above all respect yourself
And be you your own leader
Because in a potentially dangerous time
To say what you think
This will be your best weapon.

—By Mariana S.F., 24, São Paulo, Brazil