Thread by @irenicpoet

I know what’s it’s like to live in a constant state of being where you feel a deep pain that you are inadequate & undeserving of love, belonging, & happiness.

And I never want any of you to ever go through this pain alone.

I was born into poverty in a place in where sewage flooded the street & any animal from snakes to wild dogs surrounded the little hovels my mom & I lived in, alone.

I wasn’t born with any measure of luck in skilled talent, strength, smarts, or a supportive & well-off family.

For most of my life, it was just about survival, until we went homeless. And very, very few people stepped in to help us, which always came with strings attached.

I grew up angry, depressed, & untrusting of anyone or anything. I still carry that with me.

So trust me when I say that I understand what it feels like to be abandoned, alone, & in agony until the only numbing thought that makes sense anymore is making it all end, & how bad it gets when you realize that most of it is because of what you were born as or born into.

I survived because I used the only thing I had, which every living creature has: the ability to learn & adapt constantly, & chose to believe in the small idea that if I exist, as a living, breathing thing, then I have every right to refuse to just lay down & fade away.

In that stubbornness, I came to understand one irrefutable fact of surviving life: there is *always* a way.

You just gotta take a moment, think things through, & find it.

You have every right to survive & thrive in this world as the next creature.

And nobody deserves to go through suffering on this Earth alone.

I hope y’all believe in that, yourselves, & each other today.