Reborn, reknown, rediscovered, reclaimed, reacknowledged, reloved, renamed, released, revealed, revalued, renewed.

Congratulations! You have birthed yourself into existence. Here you are. The you who knows the painful story of your birth—the separation from your mother, your adoption into an emotionally abusive family, the exile from tribe, and denial of identity and heritage; ancestors and their stories, your name, your face—all lost to you. 

And you listen now to your being, your beating heart, holding it warm and kind in the palm of your hand. You have a real body, it is yours. Your heart is finally your own. Your face in the mirror is your one true reflection. You are not owned by anyone, don’t owe anyone, do not have to be grateful for being “saved.”

It has been a tough ride, a long and lonely journey, a deep archeological dig to reclaim yourself, a path you continue to walk; a path of searching—for history, meaning, truths, names, faces, gestures, gaits, voices, identity, documents, secrets, autonomy, rights; but here you are doing it the best way you know how.   

And there has been the deep disappointment, unspoken and unacknowledged, that reunion does not necessarily mean resolution, does not grant psychological absolution, it continues to be an unfolding process, often difficult, no doubt lifelong.

But you can see for miles now. It is a clear day, a clearer life, one that belongs to you. See where you have come from, how far you have traveled. See the pain you hold, the grief, the longing, the anger, the confusion, the paradoxes, all those sliding door moments, the what- ifs, the if-onlys, the never-will-bes.

And coming out from behind the cloak of worthlessness, the shadow of self-hatred,  you see it was never your fault, there is nothing wrong with you, you are okay just as you are. You weren’t born to please others, to crawl over broken glass to have a home, to shapeshift in a 1,000 ways to fit in, to belong to an impossible dream. You are worthy, you are loveable, you are wanted, you are important, you are here to take your place in the world, just like everyone else. Here is your seat at the table, your piece of the earth, it loves you just because you are here. You made it. Can you believe it? All those times you thought you would die, wanted to die, couldn’t work out why you were in so much pain, what was wrong with you, why you felt so different. And here is the truth, your truth. You belong right here.

And you are finding your voice, listening to your deepest self and acknowledging the canvas of your life, understanding it more fully; shedding parts, creating new ones, repainting, rewriting, and sinking down into the fullness of who you are, with all its glorious colors, lights and darks, joy and sadness, pain and healing, loss and reclamation, denial and truth, rage and peace.

You are welcome here, you are meant to be here. This is your life—celebrate it, take it, have it.