my life and choices are not for my family or friends to understand or approve of. they are my own. they are for me. i write the manual for my life, as you did for yours.
your light is uniquely yours, no one could ever take it from you. plenty will be attracted to it but few will be able to handle it, some will be intimidated by it and still try to imitate its brightness, but your light is uniquely yours, no one could ever dim what belongs to you.
sometimes self-love shows up as a willingness to let dying connections fade away without a fight, so that you can make space for the new connections that you deserve.
You can reinvent yourself as often as you need to. You can set new boundaries as often as you need to. You can shift gears as often as you need to. The world is constantly changing. You are constantly changing. You don’t owe people continuity for continuity’s sake.