Human beings have many different colors,

And they change them daily.

People are never who they seem to be.

We have filters on our phones, 

On Instagram,

But most importantly,

Filters we create for others and ourselves in our own minds.

We doctor up our lives to fix imperfections and cracks.

We wear masks every day-

Masks of makeup,

Emotions,

Pain.

That girl who always has a smile on her face,

She goes home and cries herself to sleep every night.

She hides all the poetry she's written in a dusty journal,

And she doesn't dare show any of her friends.

Her friends might think poetry is weird, or maybe even, boring. 

The Quarter back that led your high school's team to state,

He secretly puts on mascara and high heels in the privacy of his own home.

He feels like a girl.

He plays this game of pretending,

Putting a filter on his life,

Because he knows what would happen if his teammates found out their "bro" was transgender. 

He hides because of the dark cloud of gender stereotypes that clouds this world. 

He hides because he doesn't want to hear the words:

"Fag",

"Gay",

And, "Kill yourself",

In the hallway every day. 

We all place filters on our lives.

I am as guilty as the rest.

I worry about my appearance much more than I probably should.

Society taught me to hate how I look without makeup,

To be ashamed of my real face.

I tell everyone I have it together,

But I don't,

At all.

I have Bipolar Disorder.

I am scared as hell about how people would treat me if they actually knew that.

Could anyone really love me and accept if they knew all the darkness and light that lives in my mind,

Swirling like a mini tornado,

A contradiction?

Who am I,

Without filters?

I am beautiful.

I am fearless.

I'm loving.

I'm passionate.

I am happy and sad at the same time.

I am a little messed up,

But isn't everybody? 

Isn't it our frown and laugh lines, 

Our cracks and flaws,

That make us interesting?

Why would we ever try to hide those?

Normal is boring.

I refuse to be normal even if that makes me a beautiful mess.