I already know me, and I am fantastic, but that is not important. You, however, are important, and you are beautiful. Whoever you are, whatever you look like, no matter if you're male or female, tall or short, whatever you're into, it is also beautiful.

You like sports and go to every football game with your father, cheering on the home team, even when they've lost every game this season? Beautiful.

You're a quirky, introverted tech geek with thick glasses and snort when you laugh? Gorgeous.

You enjoy the prospects of the other gender, and explore what it's like to walk -- quite literally -- in their shoes, confronting the norms set down by society and living the way you feel inside? Off the charts.

Whatever you think your flaws are, whatever your home life is like, whatever you are ashamed of, it, too, is beautiful and contributes its own colours to the canvas of your life. Embrace these things, absorb them, and grow strong from them. You would not be the wonderful existence that you are today without them.

I am trying to do what makes me happy, and allow myself to find joy in what I do. These things are not always synonymous, but both are important, and there is always joy to be found. There is a special flavour in every scoop of life that is handed to you, and you don't always get to choose all of your own mixins, but even when you get pickles on your vanilla ice cream it's worth trying if only because you can then turn around to your friends and explain to them how delicious it is, inciting their curiousity and watching their excited faces turn to nausea as they discover your clever but underhanded ploy.

But then they laugh. They laugh and you laugh with them, reveling in your shared disgust and experiences, allowing them to intertwine their life ever more with your own, tightening the knots of friendship so they will hold even in the stormiest of weather. Just remember, the more ropes interwoven, the stronger the line.

Anything I want to be good at. By the same token, you, too, are capable of anything and everything. Overly optimistic? Perhaps. But the alternative is to resign yourself to abstaining from the things you want to do, and life is too short for that. But it's hard not to get caught up in the game-mentality; that we must either accomplish things our way, or we lose; go big or go home. Skill takes effort, practice, dedication, and long hours, and even after those have been invested there is no guarantee that you will be the best.

But why do we have to be the best? When your aspirations are intrinsically tied to someone else with the same goal not being able to achieve it then is that really a goal worth striving towards? Practice your art. Become your art. Put everything you have into it, and if you hit a wall, find someone who wants to share in growing alongside you, a community to help you learn, and which you want to contribute your own knowledge to.

Anything can be an art, if it inspires you to grow, create, and share.

The light in your eyes when you talk about your passions. The way you can lose yourself in what drives you. Even someone whose very presence might otherwise cause you to desire the sweet embrace of sleep becomes beautiful and alive when you find a topic that resonates with them.

They begin to speak from their soul and their very essence pours out with the goofy stories which lie behind every figurine in their collection. The day they found an original NES Battletoads cartridge at a backwater garage sale in Kentucky. The day they caught that prized foul ball during the second inning, now encased in glass and set carefully over the fireplace, black ink outlining the words "Mo Vaughn." It's always in the details. Never skimp on the details.

Your favourite things -- those treasures you hold dearest to your heart -- are but a mild expression of the layered beauties residing within. Allow the stories you read, the music you enjoy, and the movies you watch to be as eclectic as your imagination will allow -- and I promise it allows a lot.

Eat well, and take care of your body, because it houses your imagination, sustains your creativity, and will let you see the wonders this world has to offer.

- You -- Because without a you, all words would end in silence.

- Me -- Because without a me, we would all be the same.

- Them -- Because without a them, we could not make more friends.

- Imagination -- Because without imagination, we would be akin to rocks.

- Love -- Because without love, we could not understand.

- Us -- Because without an us, we each would be alone.

You.

enjoying a world which allows us to be atypical, one that even scoffs at the notion. No matter what you do, even if it has been done before, it is you doing it, and that makes it unique, and impossible to recreate. Your every action, your every thought is flavoured by the singular existence which is you, and shines because of it.

I would tell you to never have a typical Friday night, but fortunately you cannot help but make every day unique.

What should be considered private? And why hide a truth? I will not condemn you, condemning yourself is unwarranted, and if others would condemn you there is little you can do.

I prefer expulsion for the truth,
to acceptance for a lie,
but no matter how dark the secret,
there is someone who cares nearby.

You are having a bad day. Or a wonderful day. I cannot promise I can make it better, but I am more than happy to listen. But even if you don't message me, as I'm sure you have a lot of wonderful things filling your life to the brim already, that's fine; just walk away knowing that you are a treasure, and I adore you.