DON’T LET THE CROWD SHAPE YOU, THEY DON’T KNOW YOUR NAME LIKE YOU DO. 

THEY DON’T HEAR THE QUIET BATTLES YOU’VE ALREADY SURVIVED IN SILENCE.

BREAK FREE. 

EVEN IF YOUR HANDS ARE SHAKING. 

FIRE WAS NEVER CALM BEFORE IT LEARNED TO BURN.

FOLLOW YOUR HEART, EVEN WHEN IT TREMBLES IN FEAR. 

ESPECIALLY IN THAT MOMENT. 

A NEWBORN NEVER ASKS PERMISSION, IT JUST CRIES, AND THE WORLD LISTENS.

DON’T SHRINK. 

DON’T FREEZE YOURSELF TO MAKE OTHERS COMFORTABLE. 

YOUR LIGHT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE DIMMED, IT WAS MEANT TO BE SEEN.

LET YOUR VOICE RISE ABOVE THE NOISE. 

SAY THE THINGS THEY TOLD YOU TO SWALLOW, SAY THEM ANYWAY. 

BECAUSE TRUTH SPOKEN FROM THE CHEST HAS A WAY OF SETTING SOULS FREE.

IN A WORLD THAT TRIES TO TAME YOU, BE THE WILDFIRE. 

NOT DESTRUCTIVE, 

BUT UNDENIABLE.

AND HEAR THIS, THE DAY YOU STOP ASKING FOR PERMISSION TO BE WHO YOU ARE, IS THE DAY YOU FINALLY COME HOME TO YOURSELF.

Hassan Musa Dakasku is a Nigerian writer, a passionate advocate for youth well-being, a microbiologist, and a performance poet. He is an author whose work is rooted in vulnerability and personal expression, and he maintains a personal blog where he shares his insights and creative pieces.