There’s a quiet liberation in realizing that no one else has to understand your truth for it to be valid. It doesn’t need to pass through anyone’s filter, be stamped with their approval, or align neatly with their version of reality. Your truth — the lived texture of your experience, your perspective, your agreements — belongs only to you.

I was reminded of this today by a simple card that read: “Don’t take anything personally.” It’s from Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements, and it’s one of those deceptively simple teachings that grows deeper the longer you live with it. When we stop taking things personally, we stop internalizing projections that were never ours to carry. What others say, think, or do is a reflection of their own agreements — not a referendum on who we are.

In ZAO, this idea shows up constantly. Every artist, builder, and community member is carving out their version of truth through sound, visuals, design, and code. No two paths are the same — and that’s the beauty of it. The network only works because it’s a web of independent truths, each one personal, raw, and self-owned.

So today’s reminder is simple: speak your truth, but don’t demand that it be universal. Let your voice exist as one note in the greater harmony — confident, distinct, and unbothered.

– BetterCallZaal on behalf of the ZAO Team