Dear Porcupine,

(**Ok, one last post before I go to Paris**)

So you call yourself a “hippie?”

(Hippie: someone who rejects the established culture; advocates extreme liberalism in politics and lifestyle.)

Do you live what you preech or just do it for show? Are you conscious or just self-conscious, only worrying about what others see?

In my opinion, you are a walking cliché.

You live to be consistent with your title, however blind your faith to it may be. Much of what you believe is circular and self-contradictory. Worse yet, you know it.

You are pretentious and judgmental. You should let your education include acceptance of different perspectives.

You should indulge in freedom - a thing you simultaneously promote and reject in others, true to your hypocritical nature.

The reason you are this way is, perhaps, because others rejected you. Behind the façade of what you stand for (presumably love, caring and acceptance?) is a trembling child who wants friends.

You dress differently to visibly identify yourself as being part of your clique, and only accept others who look like you – a most ordinary type of prejudice.

You are no different from others, however you paint yourself.

Essentially, your dismissal of others is a defense mechanism much like the mentality of those who think it’s better to break up with someone before they break up with you. Better dismiss someone before they dismiss you. It’s habit now…you don’t even realize you do it. This attitude – it is your shield. Your skin is hard by now, and lined with needles to prick anyone not like you who comes too close. A shield of needles.

In sum, you are a porcupine.

You dislike me because I pose a threat to you. You have decided that because I am not overweight or fashion-impaired, because I am cheerful, because I have a sense of humour, and because I am sexually confident that I must lack intelligence. Ironic. That is a very unintelligent train of thought (destined for inevitable collision).

It takes courage to let your guard down. To be silly. To be blunt. To not care what people think. It takes courage to be me. I pray that one day you, cowardly Porcupine, find courage as well. Maybe then we will be friends. For now, don’t bother.