This is for anyone who’s ever been told you don’t matter. That you’re nobody. That you’re nothing. 

As a woman, maybe I’ve had more than my share of these words thrown at me. They’ve come from a father, a teacher, a partner, a friend, a boss. 

I used to believe them. I agreed so easily that I wasn’t anything worth caring about. I had no value, just a vessel to trudge around the world. 

It didn’t matter that I always proved the opposite – in academics, loyalty to those I loved, forgiveness without an apology and excelling at my career. 

I was still invisible and disrespected – someone who should be lucky they were even given a chance. How’d I get that chance in the first place? Because I worked harder and was smarter. No one has given me anything in life. I clawed my way to it. There was no privilege buoying me up. It was pure will and fight. 

Ultimately, I’ve never wanted much more than to matter to someone. I just forgot I had to matter to myself first. My very busy brain, threaded with depression and anxiety, sometimes creates this state of amnesia. I forget all the inner work that helped me firmly believe I matter. 

I’m trying really hard to hold onto that when there are loud voices telling me I’m nothing and nobody. 

But they don’t get the last word. I do.  

So, if right now, you’re hanging by a thread and unsure if there’s anybody in the world who thinks you’re somebody, I do. Even if I don’t know you, I promise you matter. 

We’re inside this upside-down moment where empathy is called weakness, intelligence is labeled as indoctrination, and accountability has never been more scarce. 

I’m a fighter and a survivor. I’ve proved it time and time again. I hope the next time someone says you don’t matter; you’ll realize that those words said are the ones that don’t matter.