Just when you thought Ed Sheeran couldn’t be any more perfect, footage of his message to young school kids struggling with self-confidence has resurfaced.
The UK singer songwriter told the American Institute for Stuttering he was a “very, very weird child”. The video of the 2015 speech has once again gone viral – and it couldn’t come at a better time.
“I was a very, very, very weird child. And I had a port-wine stain birthmark on my face, which I got lasered off when I was very young,” he told the audience.
The 26-year-old said it was one of the laser sessions, where they failed to use anaesthetic, that started his stutter.
“One day they forgot to put the anaesthetic on, and ever since then I had a stutter,” he said.
“The thing I found most difficult about it was; knowing what to say but not really being able to express it in the right way. I did different speech therapies and tried homeopathy but wasn’t very successful.”
The cure? Rap music.
"My dad bought me [Eminem's] Marshall Mathers LP when I was nine-years-old not knowing what was on it," he told the crowd.
"I learned every word of it back to front and it helped me get rid of the stutter."
But the resounding message from Sheeran's speech is deeper, more beautiful than overcoming his stutter. It's about acceptance, and embracing who you are.
Listen: The teenager compiling famous Australians' letters to their high school selves. (Post continues after audio.)
"Even if you have quirks and weirdness, you shouldn't be worried about that," he said.
"Just be yourself because there's no one in the world who can be a better you than you. And if you try to be the cool kid in class, you'll end up being very boring. Be yourself, embrace your quirks. Being weird is a wonderful thing.
"Keep on pushing forward and, I did alright, you can do alright, too."
Hearts. Melted.