so you want to be a dragon...

.. This is going to anger a few people. I don't really care right now. Catch me when my mood's better, and let's talk.

I hang out pretty constantly in an IRC channel dedicated, supposedly, to dragons. This being the case, I've had a chance to enounter quite a few people who believe they are dragons. Now, I have no real problem with this belief. Some of the nicest people I have met believe they are [ insert creature/otherkin here.] The thing is? Those people are good human beings. They're openhearted, empathetic, principled. They're embracing a belief that is the embodiment of the character they already possess. I wish all the world could be more like them.

Trouble is.. the majority of the people who claim to be dragons aren't like them. They're clinging to a fantasy because they've failed miserably at being everything a human being should be.

Let me tell you what humanity is. Humanity is chaotic, destructive, careless, thoughtless, and pigheaded. Humanity is also.. more raw potential than anyone can wrap their minds around. Humanity is escaping the gravity well and sending back the photos to prove it, it's sudden kindness where you expected a blow. Humanity is the concept of grace, wrapped up in a few billion bundles of flesh and blood. Humanity is audacity personified, and hope springing eternal. Humanity is the sheer triumph in a child's first cry, not just the bitterness of lonely tears. We adopt each other's burdens on a regular basis, even to raising children that aren't our own flesh and blood, willingly and knowingly.

You want to be a dragon? Here's where you start. Stop sneering at the form you're wearing. Try living up to it for a few years. When you've mastered the fine art of being a human being other people are proud to be associated with.. then, and not before, you'll have earned your right to become any other creature you feel fits you best.