A theme I consistently feel myself pulled back to in my poetry is mental health. Two reasons for this I think: First, feeling good as myself, in this body and mind, has never come easy for me. Depression and anxiety has been with me since middle school, and I didn’t have the support or language to get help until I was in my undergrad. Second, I think I come back to mental health because we live in a world and a society that makes being emotionally and mentally at peace so, so hard. What is one of the things that is universally accepted as part of the human experience? The struggle to LIKE yourself, or, to celebrate yourself. To have true compassion for yourself. 

If you look at the dedication of I Celebrate Myself, you’ll see it’s not to anyone in particular. It’s to all of us- “for those seeking compassion in the world, and in themselves.” I want this piece to be an honest and joy filled celebration of compassion for our own struggles to be happy.