Do not be hard on yourself because the world hurts and you cannot shut it out. It means you are human and evolving. Radical empathy is a trait showing up more and more and perhaps, just perhaps, it is the trait that will pull us through all of this. So care, embrace that pain, and be human.

No one is entitled to anything of yours. Not your name, Not where you live, Not what you enjoy, Not what you have in your pants or blouse. They get nothing you do not choose to give them and if they decide to take that, set boundaries and keep them or banish them entirely from your life.

The two o's are distinctive but acting together: cooperation. I am me, no matter who I come together with in common cause and asking me to deny that and 'blend in' is unacceptable. I don't want a homogeneous world. I want a harmonious one. Never ask another to abandon themselves for your comfort.

I was the kid who, at 10: learned to translate hieroglyphics from the Book of the Dead, learned klingon and studied engineering schematics during 'free reading period'. "Belonging" might be an illusion because we all judge by default (after a fashion) but acceptance is easy: just stay out of it.

Inhale calm and pull, exhale stress and fold.