Elissa,

I’m sure you know as well as I do that it can be hard to look back at childhood and see how much weight we gave the words of people we now, as adults, realize are unreliable narrators. That’s been my experience – and you’ve helped me navigate it so deftly. 

It’s true what you’ve told me, Elissa. I do try to hide the parts of myself that I think other people won’t like, and I do think it’s rooted in that small         feeling of being “too much.”

But it’s also true that I’m not too much. Not really. I am enough. I am as I was made. The people who love me don’t love me for my falsehoods. It’s time to be bold and brave.

It’s time to deconstruct the mask and realign with my core. Thanks for the chance to do that, my friend – and for the Plotter and Stone I’ll also receive to better my future.

Elissa, I give you my full consent to help with this Realignment. When you’ve sent over all the relevant instructions for both the Comprehension and Presentation stages, I’ll follow them to the letter. I’m determined to shed inauthentic skin in search of truth.