You are not a monster.
They were lying to you.
This body is good. It is yours. Its shape is home.
You are your own, and always have been.
They may say you’ve become the boogeyman,
the failure, the sellout.
They won’t understand.
But in adulthood, you will only become more of who you were meant to be. More of what you love about yourself. More of the joy you’re currently too afraid to hold,
too afraid of being scorched by it,
of losing control.
You are holding your breath, but one day,
you will set yourself free.
Stoke that light.
Stir it up, share it freely.
It matters.
It always matters.
+++
A/N: The Roe v Wade stuff in the news keeps taking me back to being fifteen, being made to feel like an absolute monster for being female, and having to go through puberty anyway. I know better now. I have language for my experience and I know I’m not alone, but wow, does my body remember.
To all the ex-vangelical/ex-cult folks out there, who intimately know the dystopian experiment attempting to force itself on the entire nation, I see you. You’re the bravest, toughest people I know. Be gentle with yourselves, okay?
Odonata 