Welcome to Finally Home, where I inspire you to find your place in this world where you can call home.

For years, I felt like I had to hide myself because I was different. The way I think, dress, act, it’s different in every way. I learnt from a young age to hide who I was because I felt safe. Do you know what happened? When I went home, I was still that fake version of myself. The same version everyone else saw. I was losing myself in the world because I was afraid to be different.

I always knew I was different, even from a young age. Have you ever looked around you and inside just knew you were different? That everyone else in the world knew all the rules and somehow you missed that memo?

I remember the first time I thought it was okay to be different in society. I believed I had true friends and that it was okay to be myself. They called me weird and locked me in a shed for hours. They told me it’s what friends do. It sounds stupid, but I believed them. How would I know any different? I grew up in an abusive home and being treated like shit every time I went home. How would I know if being locked in a shed was okay or not? I missed the memo of what it was like to be treated fairly. It was the abuse I lived behind closed doors that made me feel useless in this world. It shaped my thoughts and how I viewed the world. I was a teenager at the time and I thought it was okay to be locked in the shed.

Do you know what I learnt all these years? It’s okay to be different. It’s okay to be who you are no matter what they say. If you are here right now, feeling like you are different in the world, I am here to tell you that it’s okay. We need more different people in the world. That’s why, today I am going to share how I got to the point where I can say, it’s okay to be different.

I know what it’s like to shut myself down, even at home, and pretend to be someone I am not. To think that if I hide myself maybe I would fit into a world that I was never to meant fit into. As Dr. Seuss says, “why fit in when you were born to stand out.” If only there were more brave people out there to share their different and weird side. You deserve to be happy and it starts at home.

Your home is a place where you should feel safe to be yourself. To be however you feel. To feel like you can finally say, I’m finally home.

Being different can be your strength, even if you don’t see it now. I dare you to start thinking about why you are different and how it can benefit you. Why being different is the best thing that’s ever happened to you. You are amazing, beautiful, just the way that you are. You do NOT need to change because other people don’t like it.

Over the years, these are some of the things I have done to embrace who I am. I really hope they help. If you have other tips, please share them with me or in the comments. We are all in this together and I never want anyone to feel alone. The more we stand up to being different, together, the better the world will be. We deserve to be accepted into the world. To be accepted for being different.

Don’t Listen To What Others Say: You know, I realized that the reason we feel different is usually because we compare ourselves to others. Or they say things that make us feel different. We are only different because we know that we are not like others. Or that others make us feel like we don’t belong in this world. I’ve learnt that, those people that make you feel small are not your people.

Find Your People: I know sometimes it’s hard to believe that there are people in the world that will accept you for who you are. Trust me, there are billions of people on this world. You are not alone. There is someone out there who loves you for who you are. That different side of you. That side people made fun of or called you weird. Someone will love you for it.

Being Different is Your Strength. What if I told you that being different is actually your strength. I was made fun of for being in a special needs class growing up. I thought I deserved it because I was different in society. You know what? It’s made me a stronger person and the person I am today. It’s made me realize that there are other people in this world who feel the same as me. I am going to be brave enough to share my story to help other people out there. I’ve learnt that my autism actually makes me able to see things, like patterns, that others miss. I have been able to see options, like a 100,000 dollar scholarship to a private school for my daughter. I see the world differently and realized that it’s because I am different, it allows me to see options that others often miss. I challenge you to think, What are your gifts? Maybe being different has been your strength all along.

What’s next: If you are ready to feel enough. To feel loved, even when the world gets heavy. To know that you are beautiful inside and out. This is the space for you, welcome.I want you to follow along and come back to Finally Home Magazine. I inspire this to be a place where you are reminded that you are enough, just as you are.

You know, years I thought, what makes me different anyways? I had no idea why I was different. Why do the clothes I wear, what I say, how I speak, make me different. You want to know the truth? It doesn’t. It makes you, well, YOU. If the world were all the same, it would be a boring place.

You are perfect, exactly as you are: You don’t need to change to fit into be anyone else. Why change to fit into a world while you are crushing in darkness secretly inside?

You were born to be you: As you will find out, I love Dr. Seuss because he is different. I love Einstein for that reason too. Dr. Seuss says, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” You were born to be you. To be different. It’s truly a beautiful thing.

I still feel different, what can I do? Start by creating a space, where you can say that you are finally home. A space that makes you feel safe to be YOU. Start with one tiny action every day. Put up one poster that makes you happy. Buy that blanket that looked weird and made you happy. For me, I thought it was wild to paint my toenails bright orange. I was beaten for going over to my dads with nail polish. He would beat me. I would watch him go into the cupboard and I knew what he was going to do. he was getting the nail polish remover and forced me to drink it. It tasted awful. For me, that one step of painting my nails was something that made me feel like me. What can you do right now to embrace you?

Follow along: If you don’t know where to start, please follow along! Everything I write is true stories. I aim to inspire the world to be a better place. Where those so called, different people, like us, feel safe. It starts with finding a place you can finally call home. Welcome to Finally Home Magazine.

If you are ready to create a space that feels like home, please subscribe! If you are not ready, that’s okay. You can come back at any time.

If you do subscribe, you can expect heartfelt stories and ways you can create a space where you feel loved, safe, and enough. It’s time to start creating the magic in your life that I know you deserve.

Your host,

Catherine