Flawed, Fierce, and Full of Glitter: A Story of Reclamation

There’s a special kind of audacity required to reclaim your worth when the world has spent years convincing you you shouldn’t. It’s like walking into a party you weren’t invited to, grabbing the mic, and belting out a power ballad while maintaining unbroken eye contact with everyone who ever doubted you. Which, let’s be honest, is exactly the kind of energy we should all be cultivating.

This is the story of how I went from believing I was "too much" (too loud, too messy, too emotional) to realizing that "too much" was actually just enough—sparkly, unapologetic, and gloriously imperfect.

The Great Worth Heist: When Rock Bottom Had a Ladder

Reclamation stories often start at the lowest point—the moment when you’re so buried under other people’s opinions, past failures, and societal expectations that you’re basically a sentient pile of self-doubt wearing sweatpants. Mine began from a young age and worked its way deeper into my life as I aged, which left me questioning whether I was, in fact, an emotionally unstable gremlin.

The evidence against me seemed airtight:

• I was "too sensitive."
• I "cared too much" about things that didn’t matter.
• My ambition was "intimidating" (which is just code for "I don’t like that you take up space")

For a while, I believed it. I shrank. I literally apologized for existing (and sometimes I still do out of habit). The point is, I tried to be less—less opinionated, less messy, less me. And guess what? It didn’t make me even the slightest bit happier. It made me quieter, smaller, and infinitely more miserable.

Then, one day, while wallowing in a pile of takeout containers and self-pity, I had a revelation:

What if the things I’d been told were flaws were actually my superpowers?

The Glitter Rebellion: Why Imperfection is a Flex

Reclaiming your worth isn’t about fixing yourself—it’s about realizing you were never broken to begin with. It’s about looking at the parts of you that others labeled "too much" and saying, "Actually, this is the premium package."

Step 1: Interrogate the Evidence

I started questioning the narratives I’d absorbed. Who decided that being emotional was a weakness? Since when was passion a bad thing? Why was ambition only acceptable if it was delivered in a neatly packaged, socially palatable way?

Turns out, a lot of those "flaws" were just societal conditioning designed to keep people (especially women) in tidy little boxes. And me? I was not a tidy little box. I was a glitter explosion in a library.

Step 2: Embrace the Art of Strategic Not-Giving-a-Damn

Reclamation requires a certain level of defiance. You have to stop waiting for permission to be yourself. For me, that means:

• Owning my emotions instead of apologizing for them.
• Celebrating my ambition instead of downplaying it.
• Wearing the glitter, literally and metaphorically, because joy is a revolutionary act.

Step 3: Assemble Your Reclamation Squad

No one pulls off a heist alone. I surrounded myself with people who didn’t just tolerate my "too muchness" but celebrated it. They were the ones who said, "Yeah, you’re a lot—in the best way."

Find those people.

Keep them close.

The Aftermath: Why Reclamation is a Daily Practice

Here’s the thing about reclaiming your worth—it’s not a one-time event. Society has a way of slipping doubt back into your pockets when you’re not looking. Some days, you’ll feel like a glitter-covered goddess. Other days, you’ll wonder if you’re actually just a trash fire in heels.

That’s normal. The key is to keep choosing yourself, even (especially) when it’s hard.

Why This Matters for You:

Maybe your story isn’t about glitter or past traumas. Maybe it’s about:

• Being told you’re "too quiet" and learning your voice matters.
• Being labeled "difficult" for having boundaries and realizing that’s their problem, not yours.
• Being made to feel like your dreams are unrealistic and pursuing them anyway.

Whatever it is, the process is the same: You don’t have to earn your worth. You just have to remember it’s already yours.

Final Thoughts: The Unfinished Masterpiece

You’re a work in progress—flawed, fierce, and full of glitter. And that? That’s the most powerful thing you can be.

So go ahead. Take up space. Be "too much." Wear the glitter. The world needs your particular brand of magic, unapologetically. It doesn't have to be the whole world. It just has to be yours.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with a sequin jacket and a life well-lived.

[Drop mic. Exit stage left, glitter trailing behind.]