Dear reader,
The undercurrents of our lives’ progressive trajectories are knowledge and achievement. A causal relation exists between the two; we cannot perform doing without knowing. In the quest for life’s further achievements, a new path of knowledge must first be trekked.
It can be difficult to confront our own ignorance to begin the quest for knowledge, but each article of this issue encourages us to come to terms with our own intellectual shortcomings and come to know something that we thought we knew. Whether it is healthcare coverage for transgender individuals, the overwhelming attitudes toward AIDS, the reasons others derive pleasure from harming others, or thinking we know ourselves or someone, each piece invites us to revisit something that our mind convinces us that we understand. The rewards of this accepted invitation become immediately present when one finds the haunting beauty in scientific lab work or the next steps necessary to ensure that the health of transgender individuals is not limited by members of the healthcare community’s own shortcomings in knowledge. In order to grow and progress, the catalyst must be the choice to actively embark on a new journey down a new path.
In the spirit of Forbes & Fifth, this takes up the ethos of the last issue of the journal. My predecessor, Lucas Grasha, invited readers to “evade expectations and embark on discovery”. With this issue, we have asked of readers what we always ask, but the results and rewards extend further into new and exciting realms. By coming to terms with our own aforementioned shortcomings and beginning our discoveries in the last issue, we may finally begin to reap the benefits of this self-confrontation that will lead to an achievement, one beautiful and diverse in its nature.
I thank you for joining us on this journey, and enjoy our “beautiful monster”.
With my gratitude and best wishes,
Lucas Zenobi