"Just do it" fails with depression because depression is a medical condition affecting brain chemistry (serotonin, dopamine), not motivation. Comparable to telling someone with a broken leg to "just run." Real help: professional therapy/psychiatry, medication when needed, small actions, connection, self-compassion. You need actual support, not willpower.

In complex systems, little things add up over time. Why would the implicit assumption that you don't know what you're doing be any different?

It's not just one thing that makes a difference—it's a lifetime of small differences that accumulate and get under the skin.

If readers and editors took me 10% more seriously, how much would that add up over time?

No matter your age, letting go of past traumas or narratives frees up our future. To your future self, you are currently that young, "anything could happen" version of you. There is always possibility.