Hey guys, this is Megg, aka, @oliveandoak. Firstly, I am very sorry that it took me this long to make a formal apology or even address what had happened. It took me a little while to fully collect myself and reflect. In the last week, I had taken a step back to realize and understand how I approached the situation. So, I wanted to make this post to directly communicate this to the people who were hurt and affected by my choice of words and actions: from the bottom of my heart, I am truly and deeply sorry. After numerous thought-provoking conversations with various people (both from online and in real life), I believe that I owe the people who supported me on this platform an explanation.My intentions when I deleted my blog were not to run/not take accountability of my actions. Behind this screen is a human. I made a mistake. I became overwhelmed, my defense mechanisms kicked in, and I reacted the only way I knew how, by walking away from the source of chaos. Deleting my blog was immature and I should have stayed to comprehend why there was such a strong reaction to my comment. I have done research in the past week and I see how harmful cultural appropriation is. For contributing to an ongoing problem in our society, and for that I sincerely apologize. My words will never make what I said okay and I take full responsibility. This is not to ask for sympathy, I just wanted to let the people who I have hurt along in the process know that I hear you and I am sorry for the pain I've caused. This blog was originally created as my personal outlet - it was my way to destress. Never would I have imagined the amount of love and support I have received from this platform and I still am extremely grateful for it. After some self-reflection, I realized that I never thought deep enough about my audience or what I posted would affect them. That is not okay and I understand that I should have been more thoughtful. I was hurt by the label I received and assumptions about me that floated around because I know my self, and I know that isn’t true. However, I admit and take full responsibility that I could be more diverse and inclusive on this platform. everyone deserves representation and I know that I need to work on being more aware of what I was posting. At the end of the day, I want to be better and I want to be inclusive, words will not make that happen only actions can. Lastly, I want to thank those who've been supportive, reached out and said kind words to me. I truly thank everyone for understanding. I believe that there's always going to be parts of me that I can improve on to be a better person and I want to work at it. Thanks to those who've sent constructive criticism to me and those who reached out and I will do my best to take your words into consideration every day moving forward.
