In elementary school, we made collages. The teacher would bring out old magazines and scissors and glue sticks, and we'd all sit around, clipping exciting pictures from the pages and pasting them to a white piece of paper. When the collage was finished, we'd admire our masterpiece: a mash of random serial-killer-cutout-letters spelling our names, cute dogs from pet food ads, delicious pictures of food, cut out words like "love" and "happy" and "inspire", smiling faces of models, and random products from ads. It was a mess, and it wasn't the most beautiful creation, but there was just something about it. That collection of random shapes, brought together into a colorful and unique array.

That's you.

You're a little bit of a mess. You may have some frayed edges. You aren't the most beautiful, you aren't perfectly put together. You're a little bit glued in some spots, and in others, you shine. You are a collection. You are unique. There is just something about you.

You are not defined by one thing. You have so many parts to you.

You are your favorite songs, the ones you play over and over. You are the photographs in your frames, built on memories from throughout your life. You are the color of your bed sheets and the ticket stubs from concerts of summers past. You are the doodles you draw when you're on the phone, you are the books you read. You are the joy in finding faith, you are the coffees that you drink, the places that you've been to, and the new things you have experienced. You are the laughter from inside jokes, you are the smiles from days spent in good company. You are the comfort from the rainy days spent inside, you are the love that comes from your family and you are the kisses from your lover. You are the happiness from your best days.

But you are also the sorrow from the worst days. You are the hurt from a lost love, you are the disappointment from a bad day. You are the mistakes that you've made, you are the weakness of your sick days. You are the bruises from a fall, you are the scars from a cut that didn't heal just right. You are the harsh words that you've said and the ones that have been said to you. You are the confusion from getting lost and the homesickness of being away. You are the loneliness of your days spent secluded.

You are a collage, you are messy. You are so many things. Don't get caught up stumbling over your past. It is who you are and it has made you into the person you are today.

You are so many things. Be messy. You are a collage.