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TED Talks, Shane Koyczan: "To This Day" ... for the bullied and beautiful

Shane Koyczan: "To This Day" ... for the bullied and beautiful

There's so many of you.

When I was a kid, I hid my heart under the bed, because my mother said, "If you're not careful, someday someone's going to break it. " Take it from me. Under the bed is not a good hiding spot. I know because I've been shot down so many times I get altitude sickness just from standing up for myself. But that's what we were told. Stand up for yourself. And that's hard to do if you don't know who you are. We were expected to define ourselves at such an early age, and if we didn't do it, others did it for us. Geek. Fatty. Slut. Fag.

And at the same time we were being told what we were, we were being asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I always thought that was an unfair question. It presupposes that we can't be what we already are. We were kids.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a man. I wanted a registered retirement savings plan that would keep me in candy long enough to make old age sweet. When I was a kid, I wanted to shave. Now, not so much. When I was eight, I wanted to be a marine biologist. When I was nine, I saw the movie "Jaws," and thought to myself, "No, thank you." And when I was 10, I was told that my parents left because they didn't want me. When I was 11, I wanted to be left alone. When I was 12, I wanted to die. When I was 13, I wanted to kill a kid. When I was 14, I was asked to seriously consider a career path.

I said, "I'd like to be a writer. " And they said, "Choose something realistic. " So I said, "Professional wrestler. " And they said, "Don't be stupid. " See, they asked me what I wanted to be, then told me what not to be.

And I wasn't the only one. We were being told that we somehow must become what we are not, sacrificing what we are to inherit the masquerade of what we will be. I was being told to accept the identity that others will give me.

And I wondered, what made my dreams so easy to dismiss? Granted, my dreams are shy, because they're Canadian. (Laughter) My dreams are self-conscious and overly apologetic. They're standing alone at the high school dance, and they've never been kissed. See, my dreams got called names too. Silly. Foolish. Impossible. But I kept dreaming. I was going to be a wrestler. I had it all figured out. I was going to be The Garbage Man. My finishing move was going to be The Trash Compactor. My saying was going to be, "I'm taking out the trash! " (Laughter) (Applause)

And then this guy, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, stole my entire shtick. I was crushed, as if by a trash compactor. I thought to myself, "What now? Where do I turn? " Poetry. Like a boomerang, the thing I loved came back to me. One of the first lines of poetry I can remember writing was in response to a world that demanded I hate myself. From age 15 to 18, I hated myself for becoming the thing that I loathed: a bully.

When I was 19, I wrote, "I will love myself despite the ease with which I lean toward the opposite. " Standing up for yourself doesn't have to mean embracing violence.

When I was a kid, I traded in homework assignments for friendship, then gave each friend a late slip for never showing up on time, and in most cases not at all. I gave myself a hall pass to get through each broken promise. And I remember this plan, born out of frustration from a kid who kept calling me "Yogi," then pointed at my tummy and said, "Too many picnic baskets." Turns out it's not that hard to trick someone, and one day before class, I said, "Yeah, you can copy my homework," and I gave him all the wrong answers that I'd written down the night before. He got his paper back expecting a near-perfect score, and couldn't believe it when he looked across the room at me and held up a zero. I knew I didn't have to hold up my paper of 28 out of 30, but my satisfaction was complete when he looked at me, puzzled, and I thought to myself, "Smarter than the average bear, motherfucker. " (Laughter) (Applause)

This is who I am. This is how I stand up for myself.

When I was a kid, I used to think that pork chops and karate chops were the same thing. I thought they were both pork chops. And because my grandmother thought it was cute, and because they were my favorite, she let me keep doing it. Not really a big deal. One day, before I realized fat kids are not designed to climb trees, I fell out of a tree and bruised the right side of my body. I didn't want to tell my grandmother about it because I was scared I'd get in trouble for playing somewhere I shouldn't have been. A few days later, the gym teacher noticed the bruise, and I got sent to the principal's office. From there, I was sent to another small room with a really nice lady who asked me all kinds of questions about my life at home. I saw no reason to lie. As far as I was concerned, life was pretty good. I told her, whenever I'm sad, my grandmother gives me karate chops.

(Laughter)

This led to a full-scale investigation, and I was removed from the house for three days, until they finally decided to ask how I got the bruises. News of this silly little story quickly spread through the school, and I earned my first nickname: Porkchop. To this day, I hate pork chops.

I'm not the only kid who grew up this way, surrounded by people who used to say that rhyme about sticks and stones, as if broken bones hurt more than the names we got called, and we got called them all. So we grew up believing no one would ever fall in love with us, that we'd be lonely forever, that we'd never meet someone to make us feel like the sun was something they built for us in their toolshed. So broken heartstrings bled the blues, and we tried to empty ourselves so we'd feel nothing. Don't tell me that hurt less than a broken bone, that an ingrown life is something surgeons can cut away, that there's no way for it to metastasize; it does.

She was eight years old, our first day of grade three when she got called ugly. We both got moved to the back of class so we would stop getting bombarded by spitballs. But the school halls were a battleground. We found ourselves outnumbered day after wretched day. We used to stay inside for recess, because outside was worse. Outside, we'd have to rehearse running away, or learn to stay still like statues, giving no clues that we were there. In grade five, they taped a sign to the front of her desk that read, "Beware of dog." To this day, despite a loving husband, she doesn't think she's beautiful because of a birthmark that takes up a little less than half her face. Kids used to say, "She looks like a wrong answer that someone tried to erase, but couldn't quite get the job done." And they'll never understand that she's raising two kids whose definition of beauty begins with the word "Mom," because they see her heart before they see her skin, because she's only ever always been amazing. He was a broken branch grafted onto a different family tree, adopted, not because his parents opted for a different destiny. He was three when he became a mixed drink of one part left alone and two parts tragedy, started therapy in eighth grade, had a personality made up of tests and pills, lived like the uphills were mountains and the downhills were cliffs, four fifths suicidal, a tidal wave of antidepressants, and an adolescence being called "Popper," one part because of the pills, 99 parts because of the cruelty. He tried to kill himself in grade 10 when a kid who could still go home to Mom and Dad had the audacity to tell him, "Get over it." As if depression is something that could be remedied by any of the contents found in a first aid kit. To this day, he is a stick of TNT lit from both ends, could describe to you in detail the way the sky bends in the moment before it's about to fall, and despite an army of friends who all call him an inspiration, he remains a conversation piece between people who can't understand sometimes being drug-free has less to do with addiction and more to do with sanity.

We weren't the only kids who grew up this way. To this day, kids are still being called names. The classics were, "Hey stupid," "Hey spaz." Seems like every school has an arsenal of names getting updated every year, and if a kid breaks in a school and no one around chooses to hear, do they make a sound? Are they just background noise from a soundtrack stuck on repeat when people say things like, "Kids can be cruel." Every school was a big top circus tent, and the pecking order went from acrobats to lion tamers, from clowns to carnies, all of these miles ahead of who we were. We were freaks -- lobster claw boys and bearded ladies, oddities juggling depression and loneliness, playing solitaire, spin the bottle, trying to kiss the wounded parts of ourselves and heal, but at night, while the others slept, we kept walking the tightrope. It was practice, and yes, some of us fell. But I want to tell them that all of this is just debris left over when we finally decide to smash all the things we thought we used to be, and if you can't see anything beautiful about yourself, get a better mirror, look a little closer, stare a little longer, because there's something inside you that made you keep trying despite everyone who told you to quit. You built a cast around your broken heart and signed it yourself. You signed it, "They were wrong." Because maybe you didn't belong to a group or a clique. Maybe they decided to pick you last for basketball or everything. Maybe you used to bring bruises and broken teeth to show-and-tell, but never told, because how can you hold your ground if everyone around you wants to bury you beneath it? You have to believe that they were wrong. They have to be wrong. Why else would we still be here?

We grew up learning to cheer on the underdog because we see ourselves in them. We stem from a root planted in the belief that we are not what we were called. We are not abandoned cars stalled out and sitting empty on some highway, and if in some way we are, don't worry. We only got out to walk and get gas. We are graduating members from the class of We Made It, not the faded echoes of voices crying out, "Names will never hurt me." Of course they did. But our lives will only ever always continue to be a balancing act that has less to do with pain and more to do with beauty.

(Applause)

Shane Koyczan: "To This Day" ... for the bullied and beautiful Shane Koyczan: "To This Day" ... para los acosados y los guapos Shane Koyczan: "To This Day" ... dla prześladowanych i pięknych Shane Koyczan: "To This Day" ... para os intimidados e os belos Shane Koyczan:「到今天」......為受欺負的人和美麗的人

There’s so many of you.

When I was a kid, I hid my heart under the bed, because my mother said, "If you’re not careful, someday someone’s going to break it. Quando eu era criança, escondi meu coração debaixo da cama, porque minha mãe disse: "Se você não tomar cuidado, um dia alguém vai quebrar isso. 當我還是個孩子的時候,我把我的心藏在床底下,因為我媽媽說:「如果你不小心,有一天就會有人打破它。 " Take it from me. 「 從我這拿走。 Under the bed is not a good hiding spot. 床底下可不是一個好的藏身之處。 I know because I’ve been shot down so many times I get altitude sickness just from standing up for myself. Eu sei porque fui abatido tantas vezes que sofro de doenças de altitude só por me defender. But that’s what we were told. Stand up for yourself. And that’s hard to do if you don’t know who you are. E isso é difícil de fazer se você não sabe quem você é. We were expected to define ourselves at such an early age, and if we didn’t do it, others did it for us. Era esperado que nos definíssemos tão cedo e, se não o fizéssemos, outros o fariam por nós. Geek. Nerd. Fatty. Gordinho. Slut. Vagabunda. Fag. Fag.

And at the same time we were being told what we were, we were being asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" E, ao mesmo tempo, nos diziam o que éramos, nos perguntavam: "O que você quer ser quando crescer?" I always thought that was an unfair question. Eu sempre pensei que era uma pergunta injusta. It presupposes that we can’t be what we already are. Pressupõe que não podemos ser o que já somos. We were kids.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a man. I wanted a registered retirement savings plan that would keep me in candy long enough to make old age sweet. Eu queria um plano de poupança de aposentadoria registrado que me mantivesse em doces por tempo suficiente para tornar doce a velhice. When I was a kid, I wanted to shave. Quando eu era criança, queria fazer a barba. Now, not so much. When I was eight, I wanted to be a marine biologist. Quando eu tinha oito anos, eu queria ser um biólogo marinho. When I was nine, I saw the movie "Jaws," and thought to myself, "No, thank you." Quando eu tinha nove anos, vi o filme "Tubarão" e pensei comigo mesmo: "Não, obrigado". And when I was 10, I was told that my parents left because they didn’t want me. E quando eu tinha 10 anos, me disseram que meus pais foram embora porque não me queriam. When I was 11, I wanted to be left alone. Quando eu tinha 11 anos, queria ser deixado em paz. When I was 12, I wanted to die. When I was 13, I wanted to kill a kid. When I was 14, I was asked to seriously consider a career path.

I said, "I’d like to be a writer. " Eu disse: "Eu gostaria de ser escritor". And they said, "Choose something realistic. " E eles disseram: "Escolha algo realista". So I said, "Professional wrestler. " Então eu disse: "Lutador profissional". And they said, "Don’t be stupid. " E eles disseram: "Não seja estúpido". See, they asked me what I wanted to be, then told me what not to be. Veja, eles me perguntaram o que eu queria ser, depois me disseram o que não deveria ser.

And I wasn’t the only one. E eu não era o único. We were being told that we somehow must become what we are not, sacrificing what we are to inherit the masquerade of what we will be. Foi-nos dito que, de alguma forma, devemos nos tornar o que não somos, sacrificando o que somos para herdar a mascarada do que seremos. I was being told to accept the identity that others will give me. Disseram-me para aceitar a identidade que outros me darão.

And I wondered, what made my dreams so easy to dismiss? E eu me perguntava, o que tornava meus sonhos tão fáceis de descartar? Granted, my dreams are shy, because they’re Canadian. É verdade que meus sonhos são tímidos porque são canadenses. (Laughter) My dreams are self-conscious and overly apologetic. (Risos) Meus sonhos são autoconscientes e se desculpam demais. They’re standing alone at the high school dance, and they’ve never been kissed. Eles estão sozinhos no baile da escola e nunca foram beijados. See, my dreams got called names too. Veja, meus sonhos também se chamavam nomes. Silly. Foolish. Insensato. Impossible. But I kept dreaming. I was going to be a wrestler. I had it all figured out. I was going to be The Garbage Man. My finishing move was going to be The Trash Compactor. Meu passo final seria o compactador de lixo. My saying was going to be, "I’m taking out the trash! " Meu ditado seria: "Estou tirando o lixo!" (Laughter) (Applause)

And then this guy, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, stole my entire shtick. E então esse cara, o duque "The Dumpster" Droese, roubou todo o meu canalha. I was crushed, as if by a trash compactor. Eu fui esmagado, como se por um compactador de lixo. I thought to myself, "What now? Eu pensei comigo mesmo: "E agora? Where do I turn? " Poetry. Like a boomerang, the thing I loved came back to me. Como um bumerangue, a coisa que eu amava voltou para mim. One of the first lines of poetry I can remember writing was in response to a world that demanded I hate myself. Uma das primeiras linhas de poesia que me lembro de escrever foi em resposta a um mundo que exigia que eu me odiasse. From age 15 to 18, I hated myself for becoming the thing that I loathed: a bully. Dos 15 aos 18 anos, eu me odiava por me tornar a coisa que eu detestava: um valentão.

When I was 19, I wrote, "I will love myself despite the ease with which I lean toward the opposite. " Quando eu tinha 19 anos, escrevi: "Vou me amar, apesar da facilidade com que me inclino para o contrário". 當我 19 歲時,我寫道:“儘管我很容易傾向於相反的觀點,但我會愛自己。” Standing up for yourself doesn’t have to mean embracing violence. Defender-se não significa abraçar a violência.

When I was a kid, I traded in homework assignments for friendship, then gave each friend a late slip for never showing up on time, and in most cases not at all. Quando eu era criança, negociava tarefas de amizade por amizade e depois dei a cada amigo um atraso para nunca aparecer na hora certa e, na maioria dos casos, nem um pouco. I gave myself a hall pass to get through each broken promise. Eu me dei um passe para cumprir todas as promessas quebradas. And I remember this plan, born out of frustration from a kid who kept calling me "Yogi," then pointed at my tummy and said, "Too many picnic baskets." E lembro-me desse plano, nascido da frustração de uma criança que continuava me chamando de "iogue", depois apontou para minha barriga e disse: "Muitas cestas de piquenique". 我記得這個計劃是出於一個孩子的挫敗感,他一直叫我“瑜伽士”,然後指著我的肚子說,“野餐籃子太多了。” Turns out it’s not that hard to trick someone, and one day before class, I said, "Yeah, you can copy my homework," and I gave him all the wrong answers that I’d written down the night before. Acontece que não é tão difícil enganar alguém e, um dia antes da aula, eu disse: "Sim, você pode copiar meu dever de casa", e eu dei a ele todas as respostas erradas que escrevi na noite anterior. 事實證明,欺騙某人並不難,有一天上課前,我說:「是的,你可以抄我的作業。」然後我把前一天晚上寫下的所有錯誤答案都給了他。 He got his paper back expecting a near-perfect score, and couldn’t believe it when he looked across the room at me and held up a zero. Ele pegou seu jornal de volta esperando uma pontuação quase perfeita, e não conseguiu acreditar quando olhou para mim do outro lado da sala e segurou o zero. 他拿回捲子,期待著一個近乎滿分的分數,當他看著房間另一邊的我並舉起一個零時,他簡直不敢相信。 I knew I didn’t have to hold up my paper of 28 out of 30, but my satisfaction was complete when he looked at me, puzzled, and I thought to myself, "Smarter than the average bear, motherfucker. " Eu sabia que não tinha que segurar meu papel de 28 em 30, mas minha satisfação estava completa quando ele olhou para mim, intrigado, e pensei comigo mesmo: "Mais esperto que o urso comum, filho da puta". 我知道我不必舉起我的試卷(滿分 30 分中的 28 分),但當他困惑地看著我時,我感到非常滿意,我心想:“比一般的熊聰明,混蛋。” (Laughter) (Applause) (笑聲)(掌聲)

This is who I am. Esse é quem eu sou. 這就是我。 This is how I stand up for myself. É assim que eu me defendo.

When I was a kid, I used to think that pork chops and karate chops were the same thing. Quando eu era criança, eu pensava que costeletas de porco e karatê eram a mesma coisa. 小時候,我一直以為豬排和空手道排是同一種東西。 I thought they were both pork chops. Eu pensei que eles eram ambos costeletas de porco. And because my grandmother thought it was cute, and because they were my favorite, she let me keep doing it. E porque minha avó achou fofo, e porque eles eram os meus favoritos, ela me deixou continuar fazendo isso. 因為我的祖母認為這很可愛,而且因為它們是我的最愛,所以她讓我繼續這樣做。 Not really a big deal. 沒什麼大不了的。 One day, before I realized fat kids are not designed to climb trees, I fell out of a tree and bruised the right side of my body. Um dia, antes de perceber que crianças gordas não são projetadas para subir em árvores, caí de uma árvore e machuquei o lado direito do meu corpo. 有一天,在我意識到胖孩子不適合爬樹之前,我從樹上摔下來,身體右側擦傷。 I didn’t want to tell my grandmother about it because I was scared I’d get in trouble for playing somewhere I shouldn’t have been. Não queria contar à minha avó porque estava com medo de ter problemas por brincar em algum lugar que não deveria estar. 我不想告訴我的祖母這件事,因為我害怕我會因為去不該去的地方玩而惹上麻煩。 A few days later, the gym teacher noticed the bruise, and I got sent to the principal’s office. Alguns dias depois, o professor de ginástica notou o machucado e fui enviado ao escritório do diretor. 幾天后,體育老師發現了我的瘀傷,於是我被送到了校長辦公室。 From there, I was sent to another small room with a really nice lady who asked me all kinds of questions about my life at home. De lá, fui enviado para outra sala pequena com uma senhora muito legal que me fez todos os tipos de perguntas sobre minha vida em casa. 從那裡,我被送到另一個小房間,裡面有一位非常好的女士,她問了我關於家裡生活的各種問題。 I saw no reason to lie. Não vi motivo para mentir. 我認為沒有理由撒謊。 As far as I was concerned, life was pretty good. Para mim, a vida era muito boa. 就我而言,生活已經很美好了。 I told her, whenever I’m sad, my grandmother gives me karate chops. Eu disse a ela, sempre que estou triste, minha avó me dá costeletas de karatê. 我告訴她,每當我難過的時候,奶奶就會給我空手道排骨。

(Laughter) (Riso)

This led to a full-scale investigation, and I was removed from the house for three days, until they finally decided to ask how I got the bruises. Isso levou a uma investigação em grande escala, e eu fui removida da casa por três dias, até que finalmente decidiram perguntar como eu consegui as contusões. 這導致了全面的調查,我被從房子裡帶了三天,直到他們最終決定詢問我的瘀傷是如何獲得的。 News of this silly little story quickly spread through the school, and I earned my first nickname: Porkchop. As notícias dessa pequena história boba se espalharam rapidamente pela escola, e eu ganhei meu primeiro apelido: Porkchop. To this day, I hate pork chops. Até hoje, eu odeio costeletas de porco.

I’m not the only kid who grew up this way, surrounded by people who used to say that rhyme about sticks and stones, as if broken bones hurt more than the names we got called, and we got called them all. Eu não sou o único garoto que cresceu dessa maneira, cercado por pessoas que costumavam dizer essa rima sobre paus e pedras, como se ossos quebrados machucassem mais do que os nomes que chamamos, e todos eles. 我不是唯一一個以這種方式長大的孩子,周圍都是那些曾經說過關於棍棒和石頭的押韻的人,好像骨折比我們被叫的名字更痛苦,我們都被叫了。 So we grew up believing no one would ever fall in love with us, that we’d be lonely forever, that we’d never meet someone to make us feel like the sun was something they built for us in their toolshed. Por isso, crescemos acreditando que ninguém nunca se apaixonaria por nós, que ficaríamos sozinhos para sempre, que nunca encontraríamos alguém para nos fazer sentir como se o sol fosse algo que eles construíram para nós em suas ferramentas. 所以我們從小就相信沒有人會愛上我們,我們會永遠孤獨,我們永遠不會遇到一個讓我們覺得太陽是他們在工具棚裡為我們建造的東西的人。 So broken heartstrings bled the blues, and we tried to empty ourselves so we’d feel nothing. Die gebrochenen Herzen bluteten den Blues, und wir versuchten, uns zu entleeren, um nichts zu fühlen. Então, corações quebrados sangravam o blues, e tentamos nos esvaziar para não sentirmos nada. 破碎的心弦流著憂鬱的血,我們試著清空自己,這樣我們就什麼也感覺不到了。 Don’t tell me that hurt less than a broken bone, that an ingrown life is something surgeons can cut away, that there’s no way for it to metastasize; it does. Não me diga que dói menos que um osso quebrado, que uma vida encravada é algo que os cirurgiões podem cortar, que não há como metástase; faz.

She was eight years old, our first day of grade three when she got called ugly. Ela tinha oito anos, nosso primeiro dia da terceira série quando foi chamada de feia. We both got moved to the back of class so we would stop getting bombarded by spitballs. Nós dois fomos levados para o final da aula, para que parássemos de ser bombardeados por bolas de cuspir. But the school halls were a battleground. Mas os corredores da escola eram um campo de batalha. We found ourselves outnumbered day after wretched day. Nós nos encontramos em menor número dia após dia miserável. We used to stay inside for recess, because outside was worse. Costumávamos ficar dentro para o recreio, porque lá fora era pior. Outside, we’d have to rehearse running away, or learn to stay still like statues, giving no clues that we were there. Lá fora, teríamos que ensaiar fugindo ou aprender a ficar parado como estátuas, sem dar pistas de que estávamos lá. In grade five, they taped a sign to the front of her desk that read, "Beware of dog." No quinto ano, gravaram uma placa na frente da mesa que dizia: "Cuidado com o cachorro". To this day, despite a loving husband, she doesn’t think she’s beautiful because of a birthmark that takes up a little less than half her face. Até hoje, apesar de um marido amoroso, ela não se acha bonita por causa de uma marca de nascença que ocupa pouco menos da metade do rosto. Kids used to say, "She looks like a wrong answer that someone tried to erase, but couldn’t quite get the job done." As crianças costumavam dizer: "Ela parece uma resposta errada que alguém tentou apagar, mas não conseguiu fazer o trabalho". And they’ll never understand that she’s raising two kids whose definition of beauty begins with the word "Mom," because they see her heart before they see her skin, because she’s only ever always been amazing. E eles nunca entenderão que ela está criando dois filhos cuja definição de beleza começa com a palavra "Mãe", porque eles vêem seu coração antes de ver sua pele, porque ela sempre foi sempre incrível. He was a broken branch grafted onto a different family tree, adopted, not because his parents opted for a different destiny. Ele era um galho quebrado enxertado em uma árvore genealógica diferente, adotado, não porque seus pais optaram por um destino diferente. He was three when he became a mixed drink of one part left alone and two parts tragedy, started therapy in eighth grade, had a personality made up of tests and pills, lived like the uphills were mountains and the downhills were cliffs, four fifths suicidal, a tidal wave of antidepressants, and an adolescence being called "Popper," one part because of the pills, 99 parts because of the cruelty. Ele tinha três anos quando se tornou um drinque misto de uma parte deixada sozinha e duas partes de tragédia, iniciou a terapia na oitava série, tinha uma personalidade composta de testes e pílulas, vivia como as colinas eram montanhas e as descidas eram falésias, quatro quintos suicidas , uma onda de antidepressivos e uma adolescência chamada "Popper", uma parte por causa das pílulas, 99 partes por causa da crueldade. He tried to kill himself in grade 10 when a kid who could still go home to Mom and Dad had the audacity to tell him, "Get over it." Ele tentou se matar na série 10, quando uma criança que ainda podia ir para casa, para mamãe e papai, teve a audácia de lhe dizer: "Supere isso". As if depression is something that could be remedied by any of the contents found in a first aid kit. Como se a depressão fosse algo que pudesse ser remediado por qualquer conteúdo encontrado em um kit de primeiros socorros. To this day, he is a stick of TNT lit from both ends, could describe to you in detail the way the sky bends in the moment before it’s about to fall, and despite an army of friends who all call him an inspiration, he remains a conversation piece between people who can’t understand sometimes being drug-free has less to do with addiction and more to do with sanity. Até hoje, ele é um bastão de TNT iluminado pelos dois lados, pode descrever em detalhes como o céu se inclina no momento antes de cair e, apesar de um exército de amigos que o chamam de inspiração, ele permanece uma conversa entre pessoas que não conseguem entender que às vezes é livre de drogas tem menos a ver com dependência e mais com sanidade.

We weren’t the only kids who grew up this way. Não éramos os únicos garotos que cresceram assim. To this day, kids are still being called names. Até hoje, as crianças ainda estão sendo chamadas de nomes. The classics were, "Hey stupid," "Hey spaz." Os clássicos eram: "Ei, idiota", "Ei, spaz". Seems like every school has an arsenal of names getting updated every year, and if a kid breaks in a school and no one around chooses to hear, do they make a sound? Parece que toda escola tem um arsenal de nomes sendo atualizado todos os anos, e se uma criança entra na escola e ninguém por perto escolhe ouvir, eles emitem um som? Are they just background noise from a soundtrack stuck on repeat when people say things like, "Kids can be cruel." Eles são apenas ruídos de fundo de uma trilha sonora repetida quando as pessoas dizem coisas como "Crianças podem ser cruéis". Every school was a big top circus tent, and the pecking order went from acrobats to lion tamers, from clowns to carnies, all of these miles ahead of who we were. Cada escola era uma grande tenda de circo, e a hierarquia passou de acrobatas a domadores de leões, de palhaços a carnavais, todos esses quilômetros à frente de quem éramos. We were freaks -- lobster claw boys and bearded ladies, oddities juggling depression and loneliness, playing solitaire, spin the bottle, trying to kiss the wounded parts of ourselves and heal, but at night, while the others slept, we kept walking the tightrope. Nós éramos malucos - garotos de garras de lagosta e senhoras barbadas, esquisitices manipulando depressão e solidão, jogando paciência, girando a garrafa, tentando beijar as partes feridas de nós mesmos e curar, mas à noite, enquanto os outros dormiam, continuamos andando na corda bamba . It was practice, and yes, some of us fell. Era prática, e sim, alguns de nós caímos. But I want to tell them that all of this is just debris left over when we finally decide to smash all the things we thought we used to be, and if you can’t see anything beautiful about yourself, get a better mirror, look a little closer, stare a little longer, because there’s something inside you that made you keep trying despite everyone who told you to quit. Mas quero dizer a eles que tudo isso é apenas um resíduo que sobrou quando finalmente decidimos esmagar todas as coisas que pensávamos que costumava ser, e se você não consegue ver nada bonito sobre si mesmo, obtenha um espelho melhor, um pouco mais perto, olhe um pouco mais, porque há algo dentro de você que o fez continuar tentando, apesar de todos que disseram para você sair. You built a cast around your broken heart and signed it yourself. Você construiu um elenco em torno de seu coração partido e assinou você mesmo. You signed it, "They were wrong." Because maybe you didn’t belong to a group or a clique. Porque talvez você não pertencesse a um grupo ou a uma camarilha. Maybe they decided to pick you last for basketball or everything. Talvez eles decidiram escolher você por último no basquete ou tudo. Maybe you used to bring bruises and broken teeth to show-and-tell, but never told, because how can you hold your ground if everyone around you wants to bury you beneath it? Talvez você costumava trazer hematomas e dentes quebrados para mostrar e contar, mas nunca contou, porque como você pode se manter firme se todos ao seu redor querem enterrá-lo embaixo dele? You have to believe that they were wrong. Você tem que acreditar que eles estavam errados. They have to be wrong. Eles têm que estar errados. Why else would we still be here? Por que mais ainda estaríamos aqui?

We grew up learning to cheer on the underdog because we see ourselves in them. Wir sind damit aufgewachsen, dass wir die Außenseiter anfeuern, weil wir uns in ihnen wiedererkennen. Crescemos aprendendo a torcer pelo oprimido porque nos vemos neles. We stem from a root planted in the belief that we are not what we were called. Nós derivamos de uma raiz plantada na crença de que não somos o que fomos chamados. We are not abandoned cars stalled out and sitting empty on some highway, and if in some way we are, don’t worry. Não somos carros abandonados parados e sentados vazios em alguma rodovia e, se de alguma forma estamos, não se preocupe. We only got out to walk and get gas. Nós só saímos para andar e pegar gasolina. We are graduating members from the class of We Made It, not the faded echoes of voices crying out, "Names will never hurt me." Somos membros formados da classe We Made It, não os ecos desbotados de vozes que gritam: "Os nomes nunca vão me machucar". Of course they did. Claro que sim. But our lives will only ever always continue to be a balancing act that has less to do with pain and more to do with beauty. Mas nossas vidas sempre sempre continuam sendo um ato de equilíbrio que tem menos a ver com a dor e mais com a beleza.

(Applause)