Misfits Abroad ♦

 Misfit:

a person not suited in behaviour or attitude to a particular social environment.

That's a harsh definition, but that's how the Collins English Dictionary would define a social misfit. And that's how I felt the early years of my life. I did not quite fit in Italian society; somehow it felt I was in the wrong place. I grew up in a fairly strict and narrow-minded region of Italy. Until few years ago I wasn't able to fully define why, it just felt I was in the wrong place. So I ran away. I chose individualism and cowardice but hey, I was sixteen. It really felt like it was the only option.

I became a misfit on the run, choosing life abroad. I met many people that made the same choice, escaping a place that couldn't understand them, and they themselves couldn't understand. It appears to be a choice that many individuals take up in the modern world, constricted by political, economic or social circumstances. There are many misfits abroad, just like me.

Years of studies, countries, challenges and hardships after, I've come to reopen this blog with a new understanding. I ran away not because I rejected belonging, but because I needed to understand myself before I could bring in anything to my homeland. Before I could actively work to create a home that would reflect me. Before I could be comfortable anywhere, confident in my own individuality.

This realisation lies at the roots of this blog. The ability to critically assess situations and environments, developed after years on the run, is what allows me to see the world for what it is, and for what I would like it to be. I am not running anymore. I will be fighting to make home to my image, to reflect the necessities and desires of many other misfits abroad of my generation. I am fully aware that my contribution is lilliputian and unimportant in the wider context of global governance. But I am tired of running, and I will nitpick every single detail that makes me feel like a misfit when home. The goal is a more inclusive, open-minded and tolerant society, whether I am able to see it or I will have to leave it to those who will come after me.