Physiologically, humans are wired for connection and community as a safety necessity, which is why the idea of rejection feels so life-shattering. But if you can train your brain to remember that a) if someone doesn’t accept you, you won’t actually die, and b) relying on others’ acceptance alone takes away your power for happiness, it will help you remember that belonging to yourself is the best way to belong anywhere. The people who are your people will find you as long as you learn to love and embrace who you truly are -- and the people who won’t accept you don’t really matter that much to your survival.

One of the hardest parts of belonging to yourself is truly believing that your opinion is trustworthy. Sure, you believe you’re a good person, but what good does your lowly opinion have in the grand scheme of things? This kind of thinking stems from serious self-loathing because it means you don’t actually value your own thoughts and feelings. The first step to unlocking your power is being loyal to your own desires, and knowing that you are a good person with something valuable to share with the world. You are not trying to trick or fool anyone by taking up space. You’re here because you matter.

One of the biggest myths in the creative world is that some people are creative, and some people aren’t. In reality, all humans are borne from creativity (we are literally created by our parents, through a natural, instinctual, and universal act). No one knows where consciousness comes from, but because we have individual thoughts and feelings, we are practicing creativity every minute of every day. You don’t have to earn your space in the creative community -- you were born worthy of it, no matter how messy, inexperienced, or afraid you are. The catch is that you have to feel it; you have to be the one to give yourself permission to belong here.