Growing up, I never felt loved. At least not in the traditional sense. And definitely not how I saw some of my peers being loved, particularly by their parents. I often wondered why I was here. What was my purpose? Who needs me, anyway? And why would God, if there was one, give me this life? My sense of belonging, or lack thereof, molded me in an extremely unhealthy way. Unlearning self-hatred came with a unique set of challenges. This included removing the learned behavior of self-loathing and unhappiness, and replacing it with the possibility of self-love, fulfillment, and joy without
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