You will never make it
You bring shame to your family You are worthless
You are pathetic
You are a burden
You are not a real artist
Give up

For years, these thoughts plagued my mind. They pulled me into a miserable existence and controlled every fibre of my being. I wasted so much time buried in misery because I didn’t know how to be anything else.

Every damn day, for years on end, looking at life through a dark mirror. And yet, after all that, all the self-loathing and suffering,

I’m still here.