The internet truly has changed quite a lot. The "wild west" is beginning to wane, and the cowboys less land to ride. For the sanitization has made it their land. Having your own opinions and beliefs gets your face put on every "Wanted" poster. And the sanitized want that reward, no matter the cost.

Forgive the analogy, but it really does feel like this once free and vast land has been taken over. I remember a time when it wasn't a big deal if you were into this piece of media or that. When people were allowed to ship what they wanted. You could believe what you wanted. Say what you felt. Do as you pleased. And so on and so forth.

Of course there were rowdy folk back then who would push back against you. But not to the extent they've become. And certainly not as extreme as they're willing to get. What was once a tussle on the playground has now become being held at gunpoint. I mean that as a metaphor, but with some cases it really does become quite dire like that.

They create problems out of nothing. These people on social media, they concoct these clever books out of their own brains and deem it as the law. You follow their way or you have a warrant out for your arrest. There is no questioning their way, no matter if its logical or not. The web to them is a place to enact sensitivity and sanitization.

And for quite a long time, I was brainwashed into that. I wanted to fit in, so I became the thing they molded me into. And it changed me, so much so I forgot who I was for a couple of years. I had to only like these pieces of media, only like those ships, only believe this, only preach that. I had to deny so many parts of myself, hide them far away. I lost many close people because of this, because they went against the ways of the "law".

Its only now I realize how much hogwash it all was. I realize now so much of my paranoia, my anxiety, my inability to live a functioning life, was being with these people. I was questioning everything in my life, "Is this acceptable? Is this allowed? Will I be outcasted for this?". They turn on each other so quickly the moment they find imperfections. And that was what I was so worried about, if I was next.

It's silly to think back on now, but I truly did feel that way at one point. There is much to heal from, and many more things to unlearn. I've even learned quite a bit from my experience with these people. And that's learning who I am again, and how to love myself and others. The world isn't full of monsters as these people made me think. And it's really made the world more beautiful in my eyes.

There are lesser and lesser wild horses out there running free. Many, domesticated to the cruel ways of their capturers. Others, born into such a life, and never having seen what the wilds are. Many cowboys have been apprehended for their free lifestyle. Forced to conform to normality, but not their normality.

For the wilds may dissipate over time, but the truest of heart will not. A cowboy and his land cannot be separated an eternity. Held at gunpoint, I'll stare them in the eyes and say to the very end,
"Don't fence me in. Not again."