mikelong on HubPages

I've grown up on the corner of Kismet my entire life. During my childhood, religion instilled in me a sense of purpose, being that my family was supposedly selected to usher in the End Times foretold in the Bible.

After becoming disillusioned with following the will of the church I decided to fulfill my destiny through the American Armed Forces, and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. While I did not change the world, my worldview was permanently altered.

I have since been discharged (honorably fortunately), pursued education, and have chosen to gain and pass on as much useful knowledge and insight as possible to those who are around me, as well as those in the future who may come across something that I have left behind.

My passions are for civil rights and social justice. I have done my best to try to understand as much as I can about the peoples who populate this globe, understanding where we all come from, how we have come to be in the places we live, and am seeking to find a deeper connection between ourselves individually and collectively as well as with the larger universe that surrounds us.

I believe that many of the socialized, classically conditioned stigmas that keep people divided, whether religion, race, or another separating line, can be transcended and do my best to confront these obstacles wherever they rear their ugly little heads.

For all that I know, I realize that there is a far more vast pool of wisdom that I do not, and may never see. But, for what I do know, I have done my best to scrutinize, analyze, and utilize what I have learned in order to benefit myself and those around me.

My goals are not to offend, although I have, and to open channels of thought, though I have failed to do so at times.

For those who I have slighted, and who's minds I have more firmly shuttered, my intentions are not to harm.

I look forward to what the future holds, and feel fortunate to be alive during this phase of human development.