You matter. You are here for a purpose, something you and only you can do. This world needs you. Not the you that goes to meetings or parties or classes and wants people to like you. I mean the you that wonders, in the empty moments, just who you are anyway, and where you might be going. The you that has looked up suddenly and for a brief second thought “I know what the world needs!”.

Remember that moment, if you can. If you can’t, watch for it, it will come again. Repeat to yourself, every moment you can remember: “I matter”. My dreams matter. My life matters. The work I want to do matters. The way I want to live matters. Every truth I speak matters. Every battle I fight against the darkness matters. Every step I take matters. Every act of love, for myself or for another, matters.

It does not matter if you are the most brilliant, the most witty, the most popular, or the most talented. It does not matter if what you say or do is the most profound, the most original, or the most revolutionary. It matters that you say what is in you to say, and do what is in you to do. Be brave enough to express what burns in your soul or sings in your heart and not be rich or famous for it.

Whatever it is you are here to do, know that it is needed, no matter what reception it gets. Know that you will reach the beauty you strive for even though your first attempts are clumsy or crude. Start where you are. It is enough.

The road to freedom is long and has pitfalls that you won’t see coming. You will be tested. When you are so tired and confused and frustrated that you just want to give up, remember: something is always better than nothing. Take one step, and then another. Write one page, write one song, draw one picture. You are alive, and you can create. That is everything.

Remember who you are. You are not this body, this mind, this set of ideas and beliefs and emotional responses. You are a power beyond words. You are the power to say something new, to create something different, to design and rework and lead and give voice to an idea. It is a precious gift. Use it.