For a long time, I dreamed of hearing my parents—or any adult around me—say:
You can do anything!
I was convinced that if I had heard those words, even once, I would have spent less time believing that relationships were spaces of convincing, places where love had to be earned through proof. I kept wondering what kind of person I might have become if someone had said it to me and meant it.
As I get older, if I could go back in time, this is what I would tell my younger selves instead:
