June is LGBTQ+ pride month in Seattle! We thought we would show our pride by highlighting some principles that we have learned from the LGBTQ+ community. At the end of the day, we are all here to achieve lives that are more hopeful and fulfilling, regardless of who we are or where we come from.

Be Brave

Change has never been easy. Many strides have been made in the LGBTQ+ community over the last decade, but no one said it was without sacrifice. It’s important that we face our fears and persevere in our journeys in order to achieve justice and equality. Living courageously means acknowledging the challenges and our fears and choosing to pursue our visions anyway.

Better Together

It’s important that we all have people around us who support us and people who understand or care about what we are going through. Share experiences and learn new things with people you enjoy being around in order to build a community and strong support system.

Have Pride

It’s important to celebrate who you are, being authentic and honest with yourself and others. Constantly adjusting for others can be exhausting and lead to depression, anxiety, poor confidence and self-esteem.

Respect the Journey

While some of us have similar themes in our personal stories, each person has their own separate journey. It’s okay to have different experiences than your peers, or to process similar experiences differently. What’s important is that you exercise compassion, acknowledging that each of us is a human with our own unique thoughts, feelings, shortcomings, and achievements. This compassion extends to ourselves as individuals.