I really look up to you and I feel like you're the only person whom I could ask this, does it actually get better?

I can’t speak for everyone, but I can tell you, I grew up an incredibly eccentric kid. It seemed like everything I said in middle school and high school was used as a tool for mocking me. I was called many hurtful things, and it eventually caused me to button up, hide my true self from my peers, give them nothing to make fun of me for. It wasn’t until later, through theatre and then social media, I realized there were people out there who enjoyed and appreciated my true eccentric self, and now I understood I never had anything to be ashamed of in the first place. So yes, for me, it did get better. The one thing I wished I had when I was younger was the courage or the convenience to unabashedly be myself despite what people think, but it’s not always that easy. For those that can do that, you are so strong and I am consistently awed by you. But if you are like me, or circumstances in your life do not allow you to be your true self, I hope I can give you hope that it does indeed get better. Stay strong. You’ll make it through. I love you.