Instructions for the Newly Small

One: Do not panic. Panic uses energy you will need for other things, and besides, it doesn't help. Two: Take stock of your surroundings. What is large? What is climbable? What is soft enough to fall onto if you miscalculate? Prioritize the last category. Three: Sound travels differently now. Low sounds carry farther than you expect. High sounds will seem sharper. Your own voice will feel insufficient. It isn't. Project from the chest. You will be heard. Four: Other people will want to pick you up. Most of them mean well. It is still reasonable to have preferences about this. Express them clearly. People respond to clarity. Five: The world is more textured than you knew. Floors have history in them. Dust is a geography. The underside of a table is its own kind of ceiling, with its own kind of sky. Six: You are allowed to find this frightening. You are also allowed to find it interesting. These are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the most useful response is usually both at once. Seven: It may not be permanent. Then again, it may. Either way, right now, this is the situation, and the situation is workable. Eight: Eat something. Drink water. Rest when you need to. Nine: You are not less yourself because you take up less space. This feels obvious to say. Say it anyway, as often as necessary. Ten: There is no ten. That's enough for now. Start with these and see what you need next.