Henry Harris

English 21003

Professor Zayas

Introductory Letter

Sept. 8th, 2024

“Today, You’re Me” by Henry Harris

Your name is Henry Harris. You woke up today—as you do every single day, no surprises—and gazed up towards the ceiling, blinking as your pupils dilated and focused. Your room is very cold, just as you like it. You can’t say your parents haven’t gotten upset over you and your siblings’—of which you have three—inordinate consumption of energy through your air conditioners, however never would they single you out over it as you seem to be the only one that at least attempts to puts as much concern in that they do. Nevertheless, your first few moments of peace in the morning are broken by those same parents and siblings already bothering you to come assist them with their own vices before you can even build your own today. You would never complain, though. Your family means more to you than anything else, and you’re the first they come to in search of assistance for a reason. You devote yourself to your family because you understand they truly do their best to learn, adapt, and heal as you do. 

You were born into the world queer despite it taking you the greater part of your life to uncover, and the constant turmoil both within and between your parents didn’t help much in that regard; yet, seeing them develop over that time and learn most from yourself makes it impossible for you to doubt your belief in personal growth. So it’s only fair that you show them your appreciation for changing and learning through your labor. 

You slither out of bed and down the ladder of your loft, planting yourself on the hardwood floor. You reach over and kill the AC as your parents’ grumbling echo through your head before you open your drawer to put on an outfit. You do have a closet, however after you finish laundry it takes much less time and effort to simply place your clothes in the drawers—albeit haphazardly—rather than fold and hang them. Taking the short route never comes without its drawbacks as you dawn your wrinkled pants; however, your choice in jeans matter much less to you than the shirt you decide to wear. Today, it’s a graphic shirt with the band Bathory inscribed along it and art from one of their album covers. Your boyfriend really got you into metal and its culture, and when you look in the mirror at your shirt you can’t help but think you’re the coolest damn version of yourself.

Although recently you have dove headfirst into the subculture of black metal, you would never attempt to assign yourself under one genre or label. Your interests and hobbies are so expansive that when somebody asks you what you do for fun, your mind overwhelms and falls blank. To you, it is more important that we find joy in what we do rather than find ways to nestle into boxes that hold us down. What you love to do one month could be entirely different from what you find yourself working on the next. Although one thing is certain, you are never bound by creative restrictions, whether that sometimes creates overconfident pieces of work or beautiful compositions you would rather not want to find out.

You power on your headphones and throw on some boots before you start the day.

After you finish your grocery shopping, tidying up the apartment, and other relatively menial tasks, you really get the chance to indulge in yourself. Although, spending time for yourself is still a family activity. When you sit down to play video games—which you do quite often—it is always with one of your siblings, or your dad watching from his armchair. When you sit to eat with a dish you spent the last hour making perfect and a YouTube video queued on your phone—which you always need to properly enjoy your food—you never fail to screen record the best parts to show your family. When your boyfriend or brother in law comes into town on a weekend you make it a point to plan as many activities to do with them as possible

Though as you relax, a few worries linger in the back of your head that you have sort of accepted to stay forever. You’re quite an autophobe, and if you get too caught up in your thoughts while you’re away from those you feel comfortable with you get undoubtedly afraid. The parts of your day where you feel you tripped over yourself in public flash briefly as well, as much of your social anxiety has stemmed from your struggles with being neurodivergent and you seem to criticize yourself too much over it. Yet, those worries are always there, and aren’t something new. You cope healthily with these feelings by helping others and making them happy, as it’s your philosophy to do the best for others as possible. For the very most part, you’re comfortable with who you are. 

Of course ‘pobody’s nerfect’, but you do find solace in the fact that you have put so much effort into becoming what you are today that it only makes you appreciate every second you spend alive. Even when your family scowls at each other you stay strong as the glue that holds them all together. You don’t know what they would do without you, and you don’t know what you would do without them. You don’t know what you would do without yourself as well. If you didn’t appreciate the world around you, the things you enjoy, the people you spend your time with, then could you even call yourself Henry Harris?