(You're not) Too Much

[Mystrose]

Too Much

BY TYLER FORD

do you remember the first time you were called annoying?

how your breath stopped short in your chest

the way the light drained from your eyes, though you knew your cheeks were ablaze

the way your throat tightened as you tried to form an argument that got lost on your tongue?

your eyes never left the floor that day.

you were 13.

you’re 20 now, and i still see the light fade from your eyes when you talk about your interests for “too long,”

apologies littering every other sentence,

words trailing off a cliff you haven’t jumped from in 7 years.

i could listen to you forever, though i know speaking for more than 3 uninterrupted minutes makes you anxious.

all i want you to know is that you deserve to be heard

for 3 minutes

for 10 minutes

for 2 hours

forever.

there will be people who cannot handle your grace, your beauty, your wisdom, your heart;

mostly because they can’t handle their own. but you will never be

and have never been

“too much.”

[Ephnel]

Thank you for sharing!

[Sita]

what i love about this is the thought that we all have one or two phrases that have been so hurtful, that they have gotten a life of their own. When we hear it, the context doesnt matter, the person doesnt matter, they fling us right back to the point in our lives of that trauma. It’s hard to hear those words and convince ourselves that they don’t matter, but it’s also so so important that we do!!

That we say that those words don’t define us now, that the person who spoke them didn’t really know or understand or even care properly about us.

this was a lovely little reminder! Hope your day is going well, whoever reads this!

[Ashwell]

Thank you for sharing Mystrose . This is beautiful. I hope you are having a good day.

[Misty]

Thank you for this, Mystrose! I feel like I’m beginning to really regain my confidence after all these years of being told I’m too much. We all deserve to be heard <3