Dear 10-year-old me,

Let's start with the facts. You are ten. Your favorite color is blue, simply because you haven't discovered the beautiful complex majesty of the color purple and all its various shades. You are beginning your first year of middle school now. Sixth-grade man; you're such a weird kid.

Some people hate their weird phases, don't. Relish in your friends and acquaintances. Love the adventures you go on through the mall without hesitation. Love the fact that you are the eyesore in a group of fifteen really intense emo/scene kids because you're the one that has light brown hair, no makeup, and is wearing hand-me-down Aeropostale.

You don't know much about yourself yet. Most of it all you'll learn soon. I don't really want to give away spoilers, but know that no matter what, you're going to be loved by someone. You may not even know them, but trust me, there is love in the world that is destined for your heart in so many forms. Not everything over the next decade is going to be sunshine and rainbows. There will be so, so many gray days and a lot more stormy cloudy days than you thought you ever deserved. But life is a sea that ebbs and flows with every constant moment. Lean into the knowledge that life is constantly changing and the change brings new experience and more opportunity to find love.

You're going to do great things. You're going to find your passions. Help people. Share love. Build community. Advocate for yourself. You're going to make yourself and others proud of you. And know that it's okay to want that validation.

Beyond walking to Wendy's down the street by yourself, you're going to discover the art of self-dating. Once you get a driver's license everything changes and you'll have the desire to go to movies, shops, and restaurants by yourself but you'll be hesitant; don't hesitate. Do it. Take yourself and tell others of your experiences when they ask. Don't pretend like going out by yourself makes you less of a person because it doesn't, and it makes you happy to do so.

Ten-year-old me, you know I'm not one for giving advice. But you are standing at the starting line of the craziest journey you're about to embark and you are scared as hell. Your path is winding, defies gravity at some points, and may seem impossible partway down the road. So my one piece of advice is this: don't be afraid to end relationships in your life. People are not always good, and as the late Maya Angelou tweeted, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." You don't need to be a fixer, especially when people don't ask to be fixed.

Have a crazy, wild time over the next decade. You're going to make memories that will bring happy tears to your eyes for the rest of your life. And you're going to make friends that you will never run out of love for. Enjoy it, kid.

Love,

Your Twenty-Year-Old Self