Life Is Beautiful

Moonlight won Best Kiss at the MTV Movie and TV Awards! In their acceptance speech, actors Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome said:

“I really have to start with saying thank you to my parents,” said Jerome. “I love y’all so much. But on a real note I think it is safe to say that it is okay for us young performers, especially us minority performers, to step out of the box. It’s okay for us to step out of the box and do whatever it take to tell the story and whatever it takes to make the change.”

“This award is for that,” he added. “It’s for us artists who are out there, who need to do whatever it takes to get people to wake up.”

Sanders also took a moment to reflect on the importance of the honor.

“This award is bigger than Jharrel and I,” he said. “This represents more than a kiss. This is for those who feel like the unders, the misfits — this represents us. We love y’all and thank y’all.”

We are so strong.

We’re totally awesome.

Whether your illness is due to being lgbtqia+ and having to be in the closet or having been rejected. Whether it comes from something else entirely unrelated.

Its wonderful if your illness is manageable, if you can recover from it. But, I also wanna encourage my peers who have what’s considered a chronic mental illness. You’re just amazing. I know it’s so easy to get discouraged, but you rock and I am cheering for you.

Be proud of who you are.

Its okay to be self diagnosed. You’re still valid.

It’s okay to be on meds or go to therapy.

It’s okay if the meds or therapy don’t work or if you just don’t like them.

It’s also okay if some days are better than others.

I know that it’s rare to see good representation of yourselves anywhere. But you do exist. You are valid. And your illness, just like your gender or sexuality, doesn’t make you a bad person.

You are not your illness. You are so much more.

You’re not alone. I love you. I’m proud of you. I’m with you.