One of the most profound things I ever learned about other people, Shannon, is that we’re all insecure and we all just want to be loved.

That’s not my saying, exactly. I borrowed it from someone a few years ago, and sadly I can’t remember where it originated. But I think it’s so powerfully true!

It costs nothing to validate someone. It cost nothing to express love by handing out a sincere compliment. It cost nothing to stop assuming that the people in our lives are fully self-confident.

Yet, how easy it is to forget to do that. Even in the Medium world. For example, when is the last time I told you that even though I’m very busy and don’t always have a chance to do so, I enjoy reading your writing very much?

I love and respect the person you are as a single mother struggling to raise a child, and as a vulnerable human being who isn’t afraid to show the world who she is.

There, that wasn’t hard at all to write. But, somehow, we can forget to do little things like that sometimes.

It’s good to be reminded that validation is important and good for us.