There’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel beautiful and be attractive to certain people, but it’s also important to recognize that you don’t owe thinness or beauty to anyone. That isn’t your job. It isn’t some rent you pay for being female. You don’t exist for other people’s viewing pleasure. You…
Catalog
Daniell Koepke
You don’t have to swallow your tears. You don’t have to hide how you feel or ignore your pain. You have to give yourself a hug, look yourself in the eyes, and say, ‘I’m sad and I’m angry and I’m hurting. And you know what? That’s okay. My feelings are valid. I’m not broken or crazy. I’m wounded. But…
Despite what you may have been taught, your sensitivity doesn’t make you weak. It doesn’t make you too emotional, too soft, or in any way too much. It has always been and will always be a strength. The truth is that you can be soft and still be strong. You aren’t a rock, immune to the shift and pull…
I know that there are times when you feel like you’re too much. Times when you wonder whether people would be better off without you in their lives. Times when you wonder whether you would be better off if you were someone different. Someone less intrusive. Less sensitive. Less vocal. Someone more…
It’s not my job to change who I am in order to become someone else’s idea of a worthwhile human being. I am worthwhile. Not because other people think I am, but because I exist, and therefore I matter. My thoughts matter. My feelings matter. My voice matters. And with or without anyone’s permission…
You may feel like you’re failing at recovery because you’ve been struggling for so long — but you’re not. Recovery isn’t a straight road. It isn’t something that happens over the course of a few days or months, or even a few years. It’s a path lined with ups and downs and road blocks and dead ends.…
Other people don’t get to invalidate your truth. They can disagree with it. They can struggle to understand it. They can carry a truth that conflicts with your own — but they don’t have the authority to tell you what your truth should or shouldn’t be. You feel what you feel and you need what you…
You don’t ever have to feel guilty about removing toxic people from your life. It doesn’t matter whether someone is a relative, romantic interest, employer, childhood friend, or a new acquaintance — you don’t have to make room for people who cause you pain or make you feel small. It’s one thing if a…
If you’re struggling, you deserve to make self-care a priority. Whether that means lying in bed all day, eating comfort food, putting off homework, crying, sleeping, rescheduling plans, finding an escape through a good book, watching your favorite tv show, or doing nothing at all — give yourself…
Stop minimizing and discounting your feelings. You have every right to feel the way you do. Your feelings may not always be logical, but they are always valid. Because if you feel something, then you feel it and it’s real to you. It’s not something you can ignore or wish away. It’s there, gnawing at…
Breathe. You’re going to be okay. Breathe and remember that you’ve been in this place before. You’ve been this uncomfortable and anxious and scared, and you’ve survived. Breathe and know that you can survive this too. These feelings can’t break you. They’re painful and debilitating, but you can sit…
When you’re still having a reaction to something upsetting that happened a long time ago, it means that you need to do more work processing that trauma and that you need more effective coping mechanisms.
When you feel overwhelmed, it’s a sign that you need to take a break, make more time for self-care, or change up the way you’re tackling your responsibilities.
We're in this life together, tethered to each other, fumbling and trying to find our way...
You’ll get to where you need to be in your own time. Until then, breathe. Breathe and be patient with yourself and your process. You’re doing the best you can to cope and survive amid your struggles, and that’s all you can ask of yourself. It’s enough. You are enough.