Stayed Gentle

Dear Delyara, I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and did not immediately begin correcting. Not my face. Not my body. Not my life. Not my personality. I just looked. And for a brief moment, I felt neutral. Even gentle. That may not sound like self-esteem to someone else. But when you have spent years turning yourself into a project, neutrality feels revolutionary. I do not need to adore myself every day. I just want to stop abandoning myself in my own thoughts. Today, I did that. Today, I stayed.