You have a voice, you have a place, you have value. In this time, in this way, in this space.
So stand tall, the ground surrounding you is yours. It doesn't belong to anybody else even if it's taken from you. Your hip width, your head height, your open hands, your arms breadth, your planted feet. The view you see.
Live wholly. Don't cherry pick your yesterdays to put on a resume: every day was lived including those "best forgotten" or skated over or pain-filled. What did they teach you? What did they show you? Dig deep until you find out how now you think. What now you bring to the table that you couldn't have before.
Don't edit: the real you is calling you out. The human one. The all-in-it-whether-we-like-it-or-not one. The hero under the bushes that's getting a cramp in their neck.
Don't conform: we are not the same. Your own mould will always be the only one into which you fit. We are surprising creatures and hold in tension characteristics that don't compute, yet here we are. We weren't factory built.
Don't be scared: don't be less. Stop stressing and look around. What do you add to the mix? What do you know? What do you want to do?
You are needed. There has been no you before you and there won't be again.
Speak.
jsg/june 2020