Light The Way

When Closets Are For Clothes was created, we realized that by standing up against hate we will eventually become face to face with it ourselves, maybe even staring it dead in the eye one day. To tell you that this doesn’t terrify me would be a lie.
 It keeps me awake at night thinking about it. There are people in this world who strongly disagree with CAFC’s message, crazy hateful people. If there weren’t, we wouldn’t be here today. Knowing that these people exist is what fuels our passion for change. Knowing that YOU exist is what sparked this fire burning in our hearts in the first place.

In the beginning we were afraid to show our faces, out of fear of becoming targeted ourselves. We even went as far as considering using pseudo names; as if we were some sort of top secret spies. But we aren’t spies- and everyone knows I can’t keep a secret. We realized that if CAFC is going to ask for your bravery, then the very least we can do is be brave ourselves. We promise to continue living out loud in hopes to encourage others to do the same.

If our support can inspire even one person who has been struggling, if we can give them a voice, if we can open
just one closed mind, it will all be worth it. I have been told that I have a way with words. I think what they meant by that is, “Ang, you’re kind of a ninja.” If I need to verbally scissor kick the bullies of the world right in their cold hearts, I’m not afraid to do it.

We understand the fight for equality won’t be an easy win, but we believe that every one of us is worth fighting for. Besides, we’re the lucky ones; we’ve got love on our side. It starts with loving yourself. Love fully and unapologetically. The only way to silence hate is to smother it with pride. We must refuse to live quietly, waiting for change to come. If I’ve learned anything from history, it’s that change does not simply arrive; it is taken by those who aren’t afraid to make noise, to cause a ruckus, to have their voices heard. Change begins with bravery.

We choose to be brave today because tomorrow isn’t promised. Life doesn’t stick to the blueprints we have carefully drawn up. The thought that I could be gone tomorrow worries me, because we have big plans, and I don’t want to leave behind simply a footprint. We hope to leave behind an entire highway, with billboards along the way to remind you how incredible you are. CAFC hopes to change the minds of those who make you question yourself in the first place.

The reminder that our time here is short has inspired us to exist with purpose, to live out loud and with passion. I know that this is what we have been put on this Earth to do. I know because of the way it makes my heart swell when I think about it, the way it makes me feel like I can’t breathe. The way my fingers can’t keep up with my thoughts. It’s like my heart keeps telling my brain “hurry up, there is so much more we can do.”  It has consumed my every thought. I want nothing more than to be your light in the dark, to help find your way out. It all begins with one brave step; don’t be afraid to take it.

Closets Are For Clothes, and we are just getting started.