bristol pride (2023)

i want to remember 2023 for all the happy memories,

and not for the days when i cried for hours on end, not for the nights i couldn’t sleep until 4 or 5 because of anxiety, not for the times i lied to my therapist that i was doing better, not for the calls with the university’s wellbeing team, not for the moments when i didn’t know what to do with myself or what was in store for me in the future,

not for the fear of everything around me, not for the self-doubt, not for the self-hatred, not for the loneliness, not for the betrayals, not for the regrets, not for the hurt,

but for the challenges i overcame that i thought were impossible to, for the things i did that i never thought i would do in this lifetime, for the moments that led me to realising what i was capable of, for the resilience that i didn’t know i had in me, for still holding on to the flickering hope that things will get better soon, for understanding that everything happens for a reason and i won’t always understand the reason,

and for the all happy memories. and bristol pride was a happy memory.

goodbye 2023. i’m glad you made it through this year.