We are more than what others have done to us.
More than what they have said. Judged. Implied.
A wound can change you, but you can heal. You can grow. You’re not destroyed forever. Sometimes we rebuild ourselves on imperfect, chipped, mismatched foundations, but a foundation you have, you keep. You’re strong. Whoever you are, whoever you love, whoever you dream about being. Stay open, stay curious. Survival is hard, and so is healing, but scars, visible or invisible, they are signs of healing.
Not failure. Not fault. Healing. And survival.
We matter. I matter. You matter. And we have power, yes, the power others have tried denying to us, but it’s inside, and isn’t extinguished by anyone else. You have that flame inside, cup it, nurture it, acknowledge pain but also your strength. You belong to you, and you have every right to care, to support, and even to be less than okay some days, to cry, to make dark jokes about the pain, about your experiences, to be weird, to declare yourself done with the world for a day and hide under a blanket and soothe yourself, build yourself back up a little.
But you’ll emerge. And you’ll be you. And that’s good enough. Always.
(submission for Sexual Assault Awareness Month by @modernscribe)
