Things I Think About
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I'm gentle nearly to a fault. For all my sass, I'm quiet and soft. I know that this is what has worked for me so I try to give that to other people.

Not that this platform is a good place for that, so I don't give nearly as much for reasons. /1

But this leaves me pondering the amount of things I feel very "other" about when it comes to my mood and temperament on many levels.

Most parts I enjoy, some parts I'm concerned about, and maybe one or two things do I dislike. /2

When I read the things everyone goes through, I empathize really hard, but only to a point because - for better or worse - I've conditioned myself to process things differently now.

It took me a whiile, but on most days? I like me. I like me a lot. /3

Mostly because at some point, it was a choice between "me" and "not-me" and while I may not start a battle, I'll absolutely win a war.

I think about other people in the same way. So many of y'all are just fantastic and it's something y'all have the hardest time accepting. /4

I wish you didn't, but it's never as easy as "Hey, you're wonderful!" It took years of reinforcing myself so it's the same for everyone and I try really hard to remember that; so often "trying to see myself differently" aren't things people can just *do*. /5

It's a compounded list of things, trauma, the constant confirmation and reinforcement from an early age that you only matter if you DO. If you MAKE. If you PRODUCE. If you SACRIFICE.

Kindergarten and gold stars. Jobs in most cases. Literally social media of any kind. /6

If anything, I hope that in my own way, I can erode some of that for you. You deserve to love you, too.Even if you have things you want to change and ways you want to grow.

Doing those things will be amazing, I'm sure! But also: you're amazing right now. Enough right now. /7

That's offered without qualifiers *because you don't need them*.

Maybe you can't hear that today. Or tomorrow. But you will one day and that is worth it. I believe in you.