I tried to escape the pain,
and nothing worked.
So now, I will go into the pain.
As I stand at the edge of this ocean,
I cannot see the opposite shore.
But I must trust that someday I will,
if I’m brave enough to start swimming.
(May 2022)
I tried to escape the pain,
and nothing worked.
So now, I will go into the pain.
As I stand at the edge of this ocean,
I cannot see the opposite shore.
But I must trust that someday I will,
if I’m brave enough to start swimming.
(May 2022)
When I go deep into my guilt, I find innocence.
When I go deep into my sorrow, I find joy.
When I go deep into my anger, I find forgiveness.
When I go deep into my self-hatred, I find self-love.
When I go deep into my grief, I find rebirth.
When I go deep into my hurt, I find healing.
When I go deep into my loneliness, I find connection.
When I go deep into my weakness, I find strength.
When I go deep into my fear, I find courage.
When I go deep into my bewilderment, I find clarity.
When I say deep, I mean DEEP.
The path to heaven often takes a person straight through hell,
offering no shortcuts.
But every suffering is the raw material for its opposite.
Don’t be afraid of your darkness.
Sit with it quietly.
Listen to it intently.
It will lead you to your light.
Why
does ordinary, everyday life
feel so devastating?
(Apr. 2022)
Two of the most freeing lessons I’ve learned in life:
1. Don’t hold your forgiveness of others hostage to whether or not they are sorry.
2. Don’t hold your forgiveness of yourself hostage to whether or not others forgive you.
“You are only free when you realize you belong no place—you belong every place—no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great.”-Maya Angelou
__________________________
Dear sister:
When you feel the discomfort
of not fitting in somewhere,
rejoice!
It means you have a shape.
I was a beautiful piece of glass
that you never held up to the light.
Do you still adore me
now that you can see my cracks?
(3/31/22)
Society is a machine.
Be a flaw in the code.
A bad thing happens.
Instinctively, I run to my well of self-pity.
I see that it has run dry.
I have learned to create instead of surrender.
(Mar. 2022)
I reached the mountaintop
and realized the view up there
wasn’t worth losing the company
I’d had down in the village
(3/23/22)
Listen, sister:
If he doesn’t like you back,
that’s an “A ≠ B,”
not an “A < B.”
You didn’t belong there,
but that doesn’t mean you weren’t good enough
(written 3/6/22)