Dreams and Wishes of a Shapeshifter

I came, I saw, I ...

I wanted to be;

to be the guy who's seen by me

to be the girl thats caught mine eye

to be like them, but all at once

to be like one, at seconds' whim

"Being able to shapeshift would be so cool" - a childhoods dream even. Probably every childs dream at some point in their make believe games. And yet, should it become true, it might as well be an adults' curse. Boundless possibilites fit well in a childs' infinitely large, ever changing world. But what of all those possibilities if one has to live in a rigid world of rules, expectations and definite shapes? Then, learning that you are exactly what you dreamt for, becomes its own set of challenges.

What is identity? A definition? A set of characteristica? Rigid? Fluid? Is there any such thing as the identity of something that refuses to be defined or compared to anything? What becomes of identity, if the identified alters their behaviour; alters their appearance?

Find yourself, stay true to yourself, follow your heart. What if these conflict? If staying true to an identity is not where your heart wanders?

What becomes of social relations, when you invoke feelings of ailienation and distance, whenever you transition from one shape to the next, sometimes in plain view in a matter of seconds? What is social protocol for chameleons?

And yet, the question of what I want these to be, is more pressing than anything else. Who if not Shapeshifters, most versatile of our species, should be emblematic of and define, what constitutes the middle ground, that is bounded by our current categories of the extremes? What do I dream of, if nightmares of lived experiences lie dormant for a while? I dream of a world, where neatly defined concepts of identity tumble and fall, where those now seen 'normal' realize their extreme position on the spectrum. I dream of a post-liberal, anti-identitarian form of identity, based on change. The identity of a people, being their continuous way of change, the specifics of their flexibility. The identity of a political stream of thought its' history and process of adaptation. The identity of a single person their capability and potential for change. A world, in which categories of identities cease to have meaning, a post-intersectionality. I wish for the inquiries "boyfriend or girlfriend?", "straight or gay?", "him or her?" to become meaningless - by way of new language and revolutionary change in thought patterns.

Abandon all sanity, ye who enter here! Accept a reality, in which I see a person and ask myself "Do I wanna be like them or do I wanna be with them?". Accept a reality, in which I wake up, feeling like an earth warrior and go to bed looking like a typical Arch user. Accept a reality in which i dress to confuse and change behaviour in the blink of an eye. Live in a world, where not only rocks, but lives are carved by fluid change.

Unconformity, agitation, confusion, everlasting change, and the break with the system are a shapeshifters identity. Such are my dreams. Prepare to have your world torn to shreds, once you meet one of us - we already realize them.

Story, Thoughts, Enby