July 9, 2026- You are worthy

Whoever denies me, it shall not trouble me

Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.

~Walt Whitman

What we are is worthy of love. If there is someone who cannot love us for exactly what we are, so be it. We are not projects that might someday evolve into something worthy of love. We are also not a finished product. We can be both those things at the same time– an unfinished product, and something worthy of love, just as we are.

We will encounter people who do not love us as we are. Are we willing to put on a social mask in an attempt to earn their love? Is it worth that? Can we keep on that mask forever? And if we do, will there be others who do not love us because of that very same mask?

The fact that we can code-switch, that we can be somewhat different people in different environments, does not necessarily make us inauthentic. It is not fake to put your hammer away when the job calls for a paintbrush. We can use different social tools, different segments of our person, for different audiences or circumstances, but each of those segments can be authentic.

If we feel like we have to pretend to be something we’re not to be loved unconditionally, haven’t we then placed our own conditions on that love? What does that say about the way we value our authentic selves?

Let true love begin within. You are worthy.