I Am Allowed to Take Up Space

By Marie W.O.W.C.P.

For a long time, I tried to make myself smaller.

Smaller in my voice.

Smaller in my needs.

Smaller in the space I took up in the world.

Living with cerebral palsy sometimes made me feel as if I was already noticed before I even spoke.

People noticed how I walked.

They noticed the walker.

They noticed the difference.

And because of that, there were times when I tried to shrink the rest of myself.

I did not want to be seen as difficult.

I did not want to be a burden.

I did not want my needs to make others uncomfortable.

But as I have grown older, I have started to understand something powerful.

I am allowed to take up space.

My voice deserves to be heard.

My needs deserve to be honored.

My presence deserves to be fully seen.

There is nothing wrong with asking for what helps me live with dignity and peace.

There is nothing wrong with being visible.

For so many years, I confused taking up space with being too much.

Now I understand that it simply means existing fully as myself.

The woman with the story.

The woman with the strength.

The woman still becoming.

I no longer want to make myself smaller to make others comfortable.

I want to live fully in the space that belongs to me.

Because I am allowed to be here.

Fully.

Honestly.

Without apology.

Seeing the beauty between the challenges.
— Marie W.O.W.C.P.