As I scroll through Instagram recently within the past few months, I’ve come across a few creative posts that really resonated with me. And the message behind them was so powerful, I thought I’d share.

The first one was posted on a writers instagram I follow- writers.are.day.dreamers but it was reposted from nightypoetry. This poem is so spot on, to how I feel at times. If I’m really excited about something, I get super animated in my storytelling. I talk fast, I ramble, I’m loud, I talk with my hands. If I’m really frustrated or upset, I will also be loud, and maybe my facial expressions may be very obvious. I’ve been told I’m “taking things too seriously,” I’m “too sensitive,” I’m “over-reacting.” If someone reacts negatively to you, maybe it’s YOU. That is a very possible situation. You can’t always blame the person who reacts, they are usually reacting to someone you did or said.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand everyone is human, and we aren’t perfect. Sometimes people can just be dealing with a lot, or just having a bad day and they can snap at you for no real reason, other than you happening to be in the line of fire at that time. But often it takes two to get in a tiff. So next time someone claps back at you, think about what you may have done to receive that reaction. You have to own when you’re wrong people. Don’t play the blame game. I know it’s hard, trust me, I hate it, I hate confrontation. I’ve had moments where I really screwed up and felt terrible and had to talk to the person and apologize because I knew it was my fault. It’s awkward and uncomfortable. But in order to keep healthy relationships in your life you need to know how to admit when you’re wrong. And just try better next time.

However, with this specific poem, I just feel it so much. Again, with that Too Much feeling. I’m a writer, I’m someone struggles with anxiety and constant over thinking and feeling is part of all of that. Feeling so deeply, that sometimes that weight gets incredibly difficult to bare.

We walk through life trying to be the best versions of ourselves, and no matter what we do, or how we try, sometimes it just feels like we are too much of everything. That we don’t belong. That people don’t get us. That we have to conform or change to fit other people’s standards. Can’t we just be ourselves? Those who really love us will love us no matter what. I love the last two lines- “Let me be too much. It’s too awesome.” It leaves you with hope and the idea to believe in yourself and everything you are.

This next poem, was shared by 7th Heaven actress Beverly Mitchell on instagram. However, the author is Hollie Holden. The poem is a story about a woman’s relationship and conversation with her own physical body. It touches upon how we stress  what we eat, what we do, if we do enough, if we need to improve ourselves. How we look, if our stomachs are flat enough. And it’s constant. She captures how sometimes we as women just do not feel right in our own skin. These feelings are common amongst many, but that doesn’t mean this way of thinking is healthy. In her last line in this poem about a woman asking her body what it needs- Holden writes- Can you just love me like this? And that in itself is an incredible realization. Why can’t we just love ourselves for what we look like, who we are, what we are. Why are we always pressured to change or adapt, or fit society’s standards of beauty. Listen to your body. Love your body. That is what she needs.

Lastly, this next post is from Lena Dunham. Dunham has always been this trail blazer of sorts. She is well known for creating, directing and starring in her hit HBO series- GIRLS. The show premiered in 2012 and ran for 6 seasons. The story followed four girls in their twenties, trying to navigate life in New York City. Sounds very familiar, yes it’s been done before #SexInTheCity, but Dunham’s version always pushed the boundaries even more.

She recently posted a photo of herself on instagram with a caption [Below]. And I really loved what she had to say. It resembles that same idea of feeling “Too much.” How she comes to this realization that she isn’t for everyone, and she doesn’t have to be. And that everyone is not for her. For the right people, too much is just enough. Her too much can meet other people’s sense of too much and all can be right with the world. She further goes on to say that she weighs the heaviest she ever has, but that she is the happiest she’s ever been. Showing that the feeling of beauty does not only have one physical look/one mentality. Instead of thinking we are too much, let’s say we are just enough.

DISCLAIMER: I do not take credit for the written words used in the screenshots/ Instagram posts. All thoughts belong to their rightful owners. And I do not take credit for the Lena Dunham photo.

I hope that this post can resonate with you. I know all these things I shared really hit home for me. I know what it’s like to question yourself constantly, and worry how you look or how you come off to others. And I’m just getting so tired of it. I am who I am. I’m a kind person, but I’m not perfect. I have moments where my enthusiasm or my reactions may be TOO MUCH for you. If you don’t like it, that’s ok. We don’t have to be best friends. Life is full of people you are going to have to deal with, that you may not like or may not see eye to eye with. You may not get along with everyone. Just be yourself and love the skin you’re in. It’s not easy. I know. Society has taught us that by engraining standards into our brains. But fuck them, there is only one you. Own it, because no one else, ever can. 😉 

Do you ever feel like you are too much?

Honey, you are just enough.

-<3-