To Offer Hope, When Things Are Hard
Yesterday evening, I wrote this on Instagram:
Here’s to the laughter and the heartbreak. The ones who rush in when others run. The old memories that burn like candle flames, and the new memories waiting to be made.
Here’s to loyalty and fierce friends. Passion in all its splendor. Here’s to love and all its soft madness. Kisses born of waiting, sweet as wine and honey.
Here’s to the risks we take, the choices we seize, and the bravery we pull from our bones.
XO
Sometimes, the tragedy in unintentionally noticing everything means the gathered truths do not always sing, but sting. Sometimes, a small ache builds into a crescendo, until you are forced to recognize a song for what it is.
The year is slouching toward a close. But the days will soon be growing longer, minute by minute. Light comes back—light always comes back.
This is not a time for endings, for leaving behind. It can be, yes. But reframe the journey as what you are moving toward, instead. There is power in that. In not only being strong enough to recognize what is no longer yours or what no longer serves your joy, but to reach for what you want. With both hands and no hesitation.
You can, of course, count out the grieving things, the hurt and the heartbreak. You can write it all out like a list. But if you do, burn it. Turn it to ash. Release that ash to the wind. Take a breath, and then open up your heart.
Again and again and again. For every no, there is something to be gained. For every what if, there is hope. The moment will never be perfect or right, but it does not need to be—you only have to find it in your heart to leap.
To love. Again and again and again. Love is a feeling, but it is also an action. A thing rooted in acts of care and loyalty. If I have loved you at any point in time, even if we no longer speak, my loyalty still stands.
This life is not often easy. Hopes get dashed. Hearts break, mend, and break again. It can feel nearly impossible to find your footing, when things tilt sideways. It can be difficult to figure out who to trust, especially if your trust has been broken. Especially if your good faith in someone or something has been twisted.
But everything has led you to this moment, this place, this possibility. Everything has brought you here. And there is something worth reaching for. There is someone worth your time and attention, no matter the tendrils of the past.
You are not at fault for believing in the wrong person. You are not at fault for assuming someone would have your back, when they later did not. You are not to blame for someone else’s unkindness.
Look for the sweetness. The stardust. The laughter. The ones who bring you joy. Who offer kindness without expectation. Look for those who set your heart at ease and aflame. Who cheer you on when you need it, no matter what. Who offer softness, when the world feels like it’s full of knives.
It matters. And in case no one has said this flatly to you lately, you matter, too.