"When you love you fall under the waves, 
if you never fall you can never be saved— 
sometimes it’s grace, sometimes luck 
when a hand reaches out and you take it up." 
—Kathleen Dunbar, from my album The Storm…

You matter. You have always mattered. Let the dust settle that contains all the reasons you thought you didn't matter. Ah!--there is your gem self! Welcome home, my love, welcome home. 

Here's a self-friendly compassionate perspective to help you shift:

• …

All your choices have brought you to this moment. You did the best you could. Thank the voices that criticize you by telling them “I know you’re only trying to help.” I mean it--really do this--thank them! That's an audacious…

Dogs Don't Care
by Kathleen Dunbar

Dogs as a whole  
don't care what they look like 
(except perhaps for poodles).  
Let yourself find that dignity 
and freedom 
that creatures know 
—let the sense of you being you 
in the moment …