Just did something quick for the pride month!

I already said what I wanted to say in my post from 2021, and all of it is still very much true, but it doesn't hurt to reiterate the core of that essay: never be ashamed of who you are. I've spent my entire teenage years trying to change myself for others, to please people around me that just didn't and couldn't love me the way I really am. To be "normal", to fit in, to be what everyone expected me to be. It was a dark phase of my life where I was absolutely miserable, emotionally drained, and just overall exhausted. In the end, it all came crashing down anyway; because we cannot change who we are. We can pretend, we can grow, but we can never actually change. So don't be like me! It took me so long to fully embrace who I am and find people who will do the same, and it was a scary journey, to step out into the unknown, to leave behind all that I've known for most of my life, but it was VERY much worth it. At last, I found happiness and peace that I was so longing for this entire time. I found that love I missed in myself. And then I met this wonderful man, my soulmate that is literally perfect to me, someone who is so much like me and yet still so much better, and someone who truly loves me for who I am – not just what they want me to be, or just what I can give. And ever since then I've been living in a dream <3 For me, pride month is a reminder of that one crucial step that led to my current life: acceptance of yourself! And that is something truly worth celebrating.