Belief Statement

As a member of my insane family, I believe:

• Life requires you to mess up sometimes

• The freedom to make mistakes is one of the most important forms of freedom

• It’s possible to be many different things at one time, even if they’re contradictory

• Sometimes it’s better to get worse than to stay the same, because at least you aren’t stagnating

• Some things in life just don’t make sense

• Being happy sometimes takes a lot of work

• Misery really does love company

• The people you care most about are also often the most aggravating

• Children are not copies of their parents

• Good people can come from really messed up beginnings

• It’s better to be “street-smart” than “school-smart”

• People sometimes say things they don’t mean when they’re upset

• It’s possible to be cynical and an optimist

• Even the biggest challenges can be easy to overcome with help and support

• People have many layers, and you can’t get an accurate idea of who they are based solely on the outermost layer

• Good people screw up too, and bad people do nice things

• People aren’t split just into “good people” and “bad people”

• In honesty

• Being mature is boring

• You don’t have to talk to or see someone often in order to care about them

• Weird people are the most interesting

• People change as they age and grow up

• The world is full extremes

• You should be supportive of the people you care about

• People can be both very similar and very different from one another at the same time

• Patience is necessary