After re-reading that long "why I'm afraid of grad school" braindump...
It really boils down to this, doesn't it?
And my heart says yes.
And then it goes into all sorts of disclaimers about the lack of certainty and citations and concrete evidence to back up that yes. But it says yes, regardless.
We're all set free by others who can't have those freedoms, and if we're strong enough, we will in turn give other people liberties, some of which we'll never have ourselves.
And I'm totally cheering myself on with that [insert colorful adjective phrase] Statement of Purpose right now. Come on, you can do it. Keep unblocking yourself. With lots of help from other folks as needed. Keep on going.