This story was written with music.

A Journey Inward

Say Nice Things To Yourself

Before the forest, before the voice, there was a boy who learned to be quiet.

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I. The Boy

The boy played when no one listened.

He came home carrying a song in his chest.

No one had to explain it.

For a little while, he was not alone.

II. Below The Radar

Being small felt safer than being seen.

Some friends were friends one minute.

The next minute, they made him the joke.

So he promised himself: stay out of the crossfire.

III. The Island

He was not dramatic. He was alone.

His pain had no place to go.

No one had shown him how to let it pass through.

So the feelings stayed inside him.

IV. The Wall

Some walls are built by people who were hurt before us.

The boy inherited more than a house.

He inherited silence.

The wall was protection before it was a problem.

V. The Friend

Music became a home with no locked doors.

It was a friend.

It was a language.

It was a mirror.

The keys showed him who he was today.

VI. The Hedgehog

Protection can become a prison.

"I curled up because the world had teeth."

The boy understood.

But a creature cannot walk while folded around fear.

VII. The Nightingale

A song is not less true because no crowd has heard it.

The nightingale sang before anyone clapped.

It sang because the song was inside it.

The boy wondered what he had kept quiet.

VIII. The Wolf

Vigilance is not the same as wisdom.

The wolf saw danger everywhere.

Sometimes it was right.

Fear can stretch a true thing until it looks like the whole world.

IX. The River

Flow around what you cannot move.

The river did not call the stones enemies.

It touched them.

It moved around them.

It kept going.

X. The Lantern Maker

Light is carried, not chased.

He cleaned the cracks.

He sealed them.

Then he placed a small light inside.

Healing meant becoming able to glow.

XI. The Return

He started to hear a new voice.

It did not flatter him.

It told the truth more gently.

There is nothing wrong with you.

You are allowed to be seen.

Say Nice Things To Yourself.

Today.

It's very important to listen to me.

I'm on your side.

Love yourself. High, deep, wide.

Sleep tight.