“Being different is a revolving door in your life where secure people enter and insecure exit.”

– Shannon L. Alder

It’s You

Fiction Based on a True Story

by Melissa Camacho

This journal entry is inspired by true events. Some of the characters, names, businesses, incidents, and certain locations and events have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes. Any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person is entirely coincidental and unintentional.

Trigger Warning: our program often motivates people to discuss their trauma. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, please, take a step back to address emotional flashbacks and trauma before continuing to push yourself. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or the National Suicide Hotline at (1-800) 273-8255.

Interacting with society is like walking through a hall of mirrors. At times you think you are
walking into a real place, but instead, it’s something that imitates what is real to convince you
that you are ‘safe.’

How do you know you are accepted by those around you, either in-person, or virtually?
Do they compliment you just to make you feel good about yourself or is it something they see
and specifically validate?

What about those that love to judge or criticize you? Is it something you lack? Or maybe they
just don’t like what they see?

The truth is it’s you that knows what your values are and how you thrived. You have the keys to
move through life. Others walk in and walk out. It’s you that reinvents yourself. Everyone else
will do the “grab and go.”